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DEAR  SIR  : 

The  accompanying  brief  sketch  of  my  life  was  published  in  the  "  History  of  the 
Red  River  Valley,  North  Dakota  and  Park  Regions  of  Minnesota."  The  publishers, 
deeming  it  an  important  addition  to  the  historical  literature  relating  to  that  immense 
region  of  the  great  West — a  region  which  is  tending  to  become  more  and  more 
the  center  of  population  and  industrial,  commercial  and  intellectual  activity  of  the 
United  States  —  have  kindly  furnished  me  with  a  few  extra  copies. 

Believing  that  you  must  feel  interested  in  the  progress  and  development  of 
that  Northwestern  Empire,  which  is  to  become  at  no  distant  day  an  important  factor 
in  the  government  of  the  Nation,  I  herewith  take  pleasure  in  presenting  you  a  copy. 

I  am,  very  respectfully  yours, 
BURLINGTON,  VERMONT, 

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University  of  California  •  Berkeley 
JACK  MARTIN  DAVIS  MEMORIAL  FUND 


CTNE  OF  THE  EARLIEST  AND  MOST  ACTIVE  PROMOTERS 

OF   THE 

NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD. 


LIFK    OF 


THOMAS  HAWLEY  CANFIELD 


HIS  EARLY  EFFORTS  TO  OPEN  A  ROUTE  FOR  THE  TRANSPORTATION 

OF  THEJPRODUCTS  OF  THE  WEST  TO  NEW  ENGLAND, 

BY  WAY  OF  THE  GREAT  LAKES 

ST.  LAWRENCE  RIVER  AND  VERMONT  RAILROADS, 


AND 


HIS  CONNECTION  WITH  THE  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE 


NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD, 


FROM    THE 


HISTORY  OF  THE  RED  RIVER  VALLEY,  NORTH  DAKOTA 

AND 

PARK  REGION  OF  NORTHWESTERN  MINNESOTA. 


WITH 


BURLINGTON,  VERMONT. 

1889. 


DONOHUE  &  HENNEBERRY, 

PRINTERS,  ENGRAVERS  AND  BINDERS, 

CHICAGO. 


•    (4lFE   OF    • 


ti . 


THOMAS  HAWLEY  CANFIELD 


O  MAN  is  more  worthy  of  an 
extended  and  creditable 
notice  in  a  volume  devoted 
to  the  eminent  men  of  north- 
ern Minnesota  than  Thomas 
H.  Canfield,  who  will  form 
the  subject  of  our  present  article.  He  is  a 
resident  of  Lake  Park,  Minnesota,  although 
on  account  of  extensive  interests  in  Burling- 
ton, Yermont,  much  of  his  time  is  spent  in 
the  East.  A  history  of  his  life  is,  to  a  great 
extent,  a  history  of  the  inception  and  inau- 
guration of  that  great  enterprise,  the  North- 
ern Pacific  Railroad,  as  he  was  one  of  the 
founders,  and  to  him,  more  than  to  any 
other  one  man,  was  due  its  organization  and 
getting  it  into  some  practical  form  and  S37s- 
tem  in  its  early  days.  He  has,  therefore,  been 
closely  identified  with  the  growth  and  devel- 
opment of  the  Northwest,  and  his  name  is 
indissolubly  associated  with  the  history  of 
both  State  and  Nation.  A  man  of  broad 
ideas,  wonderful  vitality  and  energy,  uncon- 
querable will  and  indefatigable  perseverance, 
the  history  of  the  gigantic  enterprises  which 
he  has  inaugurated  and  placed  in  shape  for 


successful  consummation,  demonstrate  the 
characteristics  of  the  man.  A  man  of  the 
strictest  integrity,  kind  and  courteous,  of 
extensive  reading  and  observation,  together 
with  his  keen  foresight  and  executive  abili- 
ties, he  has  indelibly  impressed  his  individu- 
ality upon  the  history  of  the  great  under- 
takings with  which  he  has  been  connected. 
The  generation  in  which  we  live  has  scarcely 
furnished  a  more  worthy  subject  for  the  pen 
of  the  biographer. 

GENEALOGY. 

James  De  Philo,  a  French  Huguenot  and 
citizen  of  Normandy,  France,  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  in  reward  for  meritorious 
services  to  the  crown  of  England,  received 
honorable  mention,  a  new  cognomen  and  a 
grant  of  land  on  the  river  "  Cam,"  county 
of  Yorkshire,  England,  to  which  he  removed 
and  afterward  occupied  as  a  loyal  subject  of 
the  crown.  He  received  the  cognomen  of 
"Cam,"  in  distinction  of  the  land  grant. 
Subsequently  from  "Cam  De  Philo"  the 
name  was  changed  in  England  in  the  six- 
teenth century  to  "  Cam-philo,"  then  to 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


"  Camphilo,"  and  by  his  descendants  in  1639, 
in  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  to  "Camphield." 
Later  in  Milford,  Connecticut,  in  1080,  to 
"Camfield,"  and  still  later  in  Milford,  in 
1720,  to  "Canfield,"  which  has  since  been 
retained  by  the  descendants  in  the  United 
States. 

One  of  his  descendants,  Thomas  Canfield, 
and  Phebe  Crane,  his  wife,  came  to  Milford, 
Connecticut,  in  1646,  and  he  died  there 
August  22.  1689.  His  son  Jeremiah,  who 
was  born  in  1660,  resided  in  Milford  until 
1T2T,  when  he  removed  to  New  Milford  and 
died  in  1739.  He  had  ten  children.  The 
ninth  son,  Zerubbabel,  in  1733  married  Mary 
Host  wick,  and  they  became  the  parents  of 
ei^ht  children.  Their  third  child,  Nathan, 

O  ' 

was  born  July  28,  1739,  in  New  Milford, 
Connecticut,  and  removed  to  Arlington,  Ben- 
nington  county,  Vermont,  in  1768.  For  his 
first  wife  he  married,  November  14,  1765, 
Lois  Hard,  a  daughter  of  James  Hard,  by 
whom  he  had  four  children.  After  her 
death  he  married  Betsy  Burton,  by  whom 
he  had  seven  sons  and  one  daughter.  Sam- 
uel, the  sixth  son,  was  born  in  Arlington, 
January  2, 1792,  and  died  September  28,1840. 
He  was  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

Now  to  trace  the  genealogy  on  the  mother's 
side :  Joseph  Haw  ley,  who  was  born  in  Derby- 
shire, England,  in  1603,  came  to  Stratford, 
Connecticut,  and  died  in  1690.  He  had 
eight  children,  five  sons  and  three  daughters. 
His  oldest  child,  Samuel,  was  born  in  Strat- 
ford, Connecticut,  in  1647,  and  married  for 
his  first  wife,  May  20, 1673,  Mary  Thompson, 
grand-daughter  of  Governor  Welles  of  Farm- 
ington,  Connecticut.  They  had  six  sons  and 
one  daughter.  After  her  death  he  married 
a  second  time,  and  had  four  sons  and  one 
daughter.  He  died  August  24,  1734.  Eph- 
raim,  the  oldest  child  by  the  second  mar- 
riage, was  born  in  New  Milford,  Connecticut, 
in^  1690,  and  married,  October  5,  1711, 


Sarah  Curtiss,  of  Stratford,  Connecticut,  and 
removed  to  Arlington,  Vermont,  where  he 
died  in  1771,  and  was  buried  in  the  church- 
yard adjoining  the  church.  They  had  eight 
sons  and  two  daughters.  Their  oldest  child, 
Jehiel,  was  born  in  New  Milford,  Connecti- 
cut, February  14,  1712,  and  married  Sarah 
Dunning,  March  30,  1731,  and  removed  to 
Arlington,  Vermont,  about  1764.  They  had 
five  sons  and  five  daughters.  Andrew,  their 
oldest  child,  was  born  June  22,  1732,  at  New- 
town,  now  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  and 
married,  January  2, 1757,  Ann,  a  daughter  of 
James  Hard.  He  died  June  24, 1801.  They 
had  ten  children — seven  sons  and  three 
daughters.  Eli,  their  oldest  child,  was  born 
in  New  Milford,  Connecticut,  November  20, 
1757;  removed  to  Arlington,  Vermont,  and 
married,  November  4, 1787,  Mary  Jeffers,  of 
Chaleur,  Lower  Canada,  and  died  at  Alton, 
Illinois,  January  19,  1850.  They  had  four 
sons  and  one  daughter,  Mary  Ann,  who  was 
born  November  6,  1795,  in  New  Carlisle, 
on  bay  of  Chaleur,  Province  of  Lower 
Canada,  and  was  married  to  Samuel  Canfield, 
in  Arlington,  by  the  Rev.  Abraham  Bronson, 
October  29,  1820,  and  died  July  22,  1825. 
They  had  two  children,  one  a  daughter, 
Marion,  born  January  2,  1824,  in  Arlington, 
and  married  to  the  Rev.  Fletcher  J.  Hawley, 
D.  D.,  by  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Hopkins, 
in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Burlington,  Vermont, 
November  2, 1853,  and  now  residing  at  Lake 
Park,  Minnesota;  the  other  a  son,  Thomas 
Hawley  Cantield,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
who  was  born  at  Arlington,  Bennington 
county,  Vermont,  March  29,  1822. 

Vermont,  especially  that  part  west  of  the 
Green  mountains,  was  mostly  settled  by  peo- 
ple from  Connecticut,  commencing  about 
1760,  who  received  the  titles  to  their  lands 
by  charter  from  Benning  Wentworth,  the 
colonial  governor  of  New  Hampshire.  Sev- 
eral families  had  come  to  Arlington  to 
make  it  their  home,  among  them  the  Can- 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


fields,  Hawleys,  Hards,  Aliens  and  Bakers, 
the  most  prominent.  The  new  settlers  went 
on  to  improve  their  lands  and  fix  up  their 
new  homes,  when  they  were  startled,  July  20, 
1764,  by  a  decision  of  the  crown  that  the 
territory  was  adjudged  to  be  under  the  juris- 
diction of  New  York,  supposing  that  the 
great  seal  of  a  royal  governor  was  a  sufficient 
guarantee  that  their  titles  were  valid.  Hence 
there  arose  at  once  the  great  question  of  the 
conflicting  claims  of  New  York  and  New 
Hampshire,  over  the  territory  known  as  Ver- 
mont, in  which  each  State  attempted  either 
to  control  the  whole  or  at  least  to  divide  the 
territory  between  them,  and  thus  obliterate 
Vermont  completely  as  a  separate  Territory 
and  from  ever  becoming  an  independent 
State  in  the  future.  This  involved  a  long 
and  bitter  controversy  between  New  Hamp- 
shire and  New  York,  which,  together  with 
the  increasing  feeling  among  the  colonies 
of  hostility  to  England,  placed  the  settlers  in 
a  very  unpleasant,  not  to  say  dangerous,  situ- 
ation. Bordering,  as  Vermont  did,  upon 
Canada,  subject  upon  the  slightest  provoca- 
tion to  attacks  from  the  British,  and  with 
Lake  Ohamplain  upon  her  western  bor- 
der, which  was  the  great  route  of 
the  English  between  New  York  and 
Montreal,  her  territory  became  the  battle- 
ground between  the  three  contending  parties, 
with  England  upon  the  one  hand  endeavor- 
ing to  prevent  her  from  joining  the  other 
colonies  in  their  movement  for  independence, 
while  New  York  and  New  Hampshire  de- 
sired to  blot  her  out  entirely.  Under  such 
circumstances  the  situation  of  a  mere  hand- 
ful of  settlers  was  very  trying  as  well  as 
da,ngerous,  and  required  not  only  great 
bravery,  patriotism  and  courage  but  great 
wisdom,  forethought  and  prudent  action  in 
the  management  of  their  affairs,  bringing  to 
the  front  men  of  the  most  varied  ability  and 
different  views.  Some  turbulent  spirits  like 
Gen.  Ethan  Allen,  Remember  Baker  and 


Col.  Seth  Warner  were  ready  to  declare  open 
hostility  against  all  the  claimants,  while 
others  like  Chittenden,  Hawley  and  Canfield, 
of  a  more  mild,  conservative  and  prudent 
character,  were  disposed  to  move  more 
cautiously,  awaiting  the  development  of 
events.  Arlington  was  the  great  central 
point  of  all  operations.  Here  was  the  head- 
quarters of  the  "Council  of  Safety,"  which 
had  unlimited  powers  for  government  of  the 
State ;  here  resided  Thomas  Chittenden,  its 
president,  the  George  Washington  of  Ver- 
mont, who  was  afterward  elected  governor 
of  the  State  for  twenty  years.  Here  lived 
Gen.  Ethan  Allen,  the  hero  of  Ticonderoga, 
who,  with  a  handful  of  Green  Mountain  boys, 
demanded  its  surrender  in  the  name  of  the 
"  Great  Jehovah  and  the  Continental  Con- 
gress." Here  assembled  his  companions  and 
associates,  Remember  Baker,  Col.  Seth 
Warner  and  others,  to  concoct  their  plans  to 
resist  the  New  Yorkers  and  to  teach  them 
that  the  "  gods  of  the  valleys  were  not  the 
gods  of  the  hills." 

Capt.  Jehiel  Hawley  and  Nathan  Canfield, 
from  their  well-known  sound  judgment  and 
common  sense,  as  well  as  irreproachable  pri- 
vate characters  and  high  moral  worth, 
became  the  leaders,  and  for  some  time  man- 
aged and  controlled  this  chaotic  people. 
After  all  other  attempts  had  failed  to  satisfy 
New  York  of  the  justice  of  the  title  to  their 
possessions  from  New  Hampshire,  at  a  meet- 
ing held  October  21,  1772,  Capt.  Jehiel 
Hawley  and  James  Breckenridge  were  sent 
to  England  to  lay  before  King  George 
III.  the  state  of  affairs,  and  succeeded  in 
getting  an  order  from  the  king  forbidding 
the  governor  of  New  York  from  interfering 
with  the  titles  and  lands  granted  by  the  gov- 
ernor of  New  Hampshire.  With  this  decision 
of  the  crown  in  their  favor,  Hawley  and 
Breckenridge  returned,  expecting  that  it 
would  settle  all  disputes,  and  the  settlers 
naturally  expected  to  go  on  in  peace  and 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


clear  up  the  wilderness.  But  the  order  of 
the  king  was  but  little  regarded  by  the  gen- 
eral assembly  of  New  York,  which  offered 
a  bounty  of  £50  for  the  apprehension  of 
either  of  the  leaders.  Up  to  this  time  the 
people  of  this  section  were  substantially  one, 
a  common  danger  compelling  all  to  unite. 
But  this  act  of  the  general  assembly  of  New 
York  aroused  to  action  all  classes,  and  was 
answered  by  a  series  of  resolutions  of  a  gen- 
eral meeting  "  of  the  committees  of  the  sev- 
eral townships  on  the  west  side  of  the  Green 
mountains/'  held  at  the  house  of  Jehiel  Haw- 
ley  on  the  third  "Wednesday  of  March,  1774, 
counseling  resistance  to  all  encroachments 
of  New  York.  To  show  how  determined 
these  people  were  to  maintain  their  rights 
against  great  superiority  of  numbers,  in  1774 
Dr.  Samuel  Adams,  holding  lands  under  title 
from  New  Hampshire,  exasperated  his  neigh- 
bors by  advising  them  to  re-purchase  their 
lands  from  New  York.  He  was  arrested  and 
carried  to  the  Green  Mountain  Tavern  at  Ben- 
nington,  where  the  committee  heard  his 
defense  and  then  ordered  him  to  be  tied  to  an 
arm  chair  and  hoisted  up  to  the  sign  (a  cata- 
mount skin,  stuffed,  sitting  upon  the  sign-post, 
twenty-five  feet  from  the  ground,  with  large 
teeth  grinning  toward  New  York),  and  there 
hung  two  hours  in  sight  of  the  people,  as  a 
punishment  merited  by  his  enmity  to  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  the  people.  January  26, 1775, 
Benjamin  Hough,  of  Clarendon,  a  Baptist 
minister  who  had  just  obtained  a  commis- 
sion from  New  York  as  justice  of  the 
peace,  was  arrested  by  General  Ethan 
Allen  and  tied  to  an  apple  tree  in  front  of 
his  house  at  Sunderland  and  whipped,  in 
pursuance  of  a  sentence  of  the  committee  of 
safety.  In  England  Capt.  Jehiel  Hawley 
was  treated  with  the  most  flattering  marks 
of  respect,  by  several  of  the  prominent  men, 
and  especially  by  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  ; 
such  was  the  estimation  in  which  his  pru- 
dence and  judgment  was  held  by  the  co- 


partners in  the  agency,  that  they  would  never 
act  as  a  board  without  his  presence,  and  by 
his  means  chiefly  the  Vermont  claims  were 
substantiated. 

During  all  this  time  from  1764,  amid  all 
the  accessions  to  this  colony  from  Connecticut 
and  elsewhere,  there  was  no  minister  of 
any  denomination.  Captain  Jehiel  Hawley 
was  the  acknowledged  leader,  to  whom  all, 
even  the  most  turbulent  spirits,  yielded.  He 
built  the  first  frame  house  in  Arlington, 
and,  being  a  man  of  high  moral  character 
and  a  devoted  and  exemplary  communicant 
of  the  Church  of  England,  to  his  house,  Sun- 
day after  Sunday,  the  people  from  all  parts 
of  the  surrounding  country  came  for  public 
worship.  Captain  Hawley  read  the  service 
of  the  Church  of  England  and  a  sermon,  the 
"  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States"  at  this  early  day  not  having  been 
regularly  organized  in  America.  The  diffi- 
culties of  the  times  delayed  the  building  of  a 
church,  although  the  services  were  kept  up 
regularly  by  Captain  Hawley,  which  formed 
the  nucleus  of  a  congregation,  and  in  1784  a 
parish  was  organized.  Two  shillings  on  a 
pound  were  levied  on  the  inhabitants  to 
build  the  church,  now  St.  James  church, 
Arlington — the  original  building  having  been 
replaced  by  a  stone  one  on  the  same  site  in 
1832  —  which  was  the  first  Episcopal  church 
organized  in  Vermont.  In  1787  this  parish 
was  represented  in  the  convention  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  at  Stratford, 
Connecticut,  by  Nathan  Canfield,  the  first 
delegate. 

Notwithstanding  the  continued  aggres- 
sions of  New  York  the  inhabitants,  under 
the  leadership  of  Captain  Hawley,  were 
making  rapid  improvements,  when  a  new 
trouble  was  approaching  in  1775.  The  trouble 
between  the  colonies  and  England  had  cul- 
minated and  the  battle  of  Lexington  opened 
the  War  of  the  Revolution.  A  convention 
of  the  people  of  Vermont  was  called  in 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


1776  to  draft  a  constitution,  which  was  done, 
declaring  Yermont  an  independent  State  ; 
but  before  the  constitution  could  be  ratified 
by  the  people  General  Burgoyne,  with  his 
splendid  army  of  10,000  men,  had  entered 
Lake  Champlain  and  anchored  in  Vermont 
waters.  It  became  necessary,  to  meet  the 
emergency,  to  form  a  provisional  govern- 
ment without  an  hour's  delay,  and  a  "  Council 
of  Safety  "  was  appointed,  invested  with  all 
the  powers  of  government,  both  civil  and 
military.  Its  power  was  unlimited  and  abso- 
lute, and,  in  fact,  the  urgency  was  so  great 
that  it  was  necessary  to  place  in  the  hands 
of  the  fourteen  men  composing  the  "  Council 
of  Safety"  the  legislative,  executive  and 
judicial  powers  of  the  State,  and  intrust 
them  with  the  life,  liberty  and  property  of 
every  individual.  It  was  a  dark  hour — no 
money  in  the  treasury,  no  time  for  taxation, 
no  credit  to  borrow;  desperate  measures 
were  necessary.  A  commission  of  sequestra- 
tion was  appointed,  "  invested  with  full 
authority  to  seize  the  goods  and  chattels  of 
all  persons  who  had  or  should  join  the  com- 
mon enemy,  sell  them  at  public  vendue  and 
the  proceeds  to  be  paid  over  to  the  treasurer 
to  be  appointed  by  the  council." 

The  council  of  safety  as  well  as  com- 
missioners of  sequestration  made  their  head- 
quarters at  Arlington.  Thomas  Chittenden, 
afterward  governor  of  the  State  for  twenty 
years,  was  its  president,  and  Ira  Allen, 
brother  of  Gen.  Ethan  Allen,  its  secretary. 
This  sudden  change  of  affairs  compelled  the 
people  at  once  to  decide  what  course  to 
pursue,  whether  to  join  the  revolutionists  or 
remain  loyal  to  the  crown,  whence  they 
had  received  by  gift  all  their  lands  and 
possessions.  It  was  a  very  trying  time, 
especially  with  the  commissioners  of 
sequestration  encamped  among  them,  urged 
on  by  such  tumultuous  spirits  as  Ethan 
Allen,  Seth  Warner  and  Remember  Baker, 
to  seize, upon  the  slightest  shadow  of  loyalty 


to  England,  the  property  of  any  one  and 
confiscate  it.  The  town  was  in  a  critical 
position.  Most  of  its  inhabitants,  while 
feeling  grateful  for  all  that  had  been  done 
for  them  by  the  crown,  felt  that  it  would  be 
better  for  the  colonies  to  be  an  independent 
nation ;  but  whether  the  time  had  come  to 
throw  off  the  yoke  of  the  mother  country 
was  the  question ;  and  whether,  if  over- 
throwing a  good  government  then  existing, 
they  would  be  assured  that  the  Revolution 
would  succeed  and  a  better  one  arise  out  of 
the  wreck,  or  whether  anarchy  and  chaos 
would  be  the  result  for  along  time  to  come. 
It  was  a  difficult  question  to  determine, 
especially  after  having  been  several  years  in 
conflict  with  New  York,  and  now,  by  the 
order  of  King  George  III.,  sustained  in  the 
position  they  had  taken. 

If  the  powers  of  the  existing  government 
were  shaken  off,  where  was  the  power  of  re- 
organization ?  "  Committees  of  Safety  "  had 
been  accepted  as  a  necessity,  and  if  the  laws 
then  existing  were  overthrown,  the  prospect 
was,  they  would  be  subject  to  the  powers  of 
these  committees  for  an  indefinite  length  of 
time.  Is  it  strange  that  men  with  property 
and  families  should  hesitate?  There  were 
uneasy  spirits  among  the  inhabitants  as  in 
all  communities,  who  disliked  labor  and,  ex- 
pecting to  live  by  there  wits,  were  ready  for 
any  change  by  which  something  might  turn 
up  to  their  advantage.  There  were  others 
who  took  a  more  comprehensive  view,  and 
were  ready  to  risk  everything  from  truly  pa- 
triotic motives  for  the  great  principles  of 
political  freedom.  Unfortunately  these  were 
not  the  men  of  property  and  influence.  The 
leading  men  of  the  new  State  were  very  in- 
dignant, especially  as  the  British  army  of 
10,000  men  under  General  Burgoyne  was  on 
its  way  from  Canada.  Public  excitement 
became  very  great,  especially  as  there  were 
no  railroads  or  telegraphs  in  those  days  to 
keep  the  people  informed  of  the  rapidity  of 


THOMAS  II.  CAN  FIELD. 


his  approach.  Names  of  men  from  all  parts 
of  the  State  were  mentioned  who  were  sus- 
pected of  Toryism.  The  Council  of  Safety 
met  frequently  at  Arlington,  and  woe  be  to 
the  tory  who  was  suspected  of  loyalty  to 
the  crown.  It  was  a  trying  time  —  there 
was  no  time  for  delay.  Families  were 
divided  among  themselves;  neighbors  ar- 
rayed against  each  other,  some  joined  the 
revolutionists,  others  remained  loyal  to  the 
king  and  left  for  Canada,  while  others,  "  who 
did  not  think  it  right  to  rebel  against  a  king 
who  had  done  them  no  harm,"  remained  at 
their  homes,  submitting  to  the  powers  of  the 
government  de  facto,  believing  that  colonies 
so  far  from  the  mother  country  ought  at  some 
time  to  be  independent,  but  was  this  the 
time  ?  This  was  sufficient  cause  in  the  eyes 
of  the  commissioners  of  sequestration, 
backed  up  by  restless  spirits,  to  seize  their 
property  and  confiscate  it.  Captain  Jehiel 
Hawley  may  be  said  to  have  belonged  to 
this  last  class.  His  high  moral  worth,  peace- 
ful manners  and  kind  consideration  and 
friendship  for  all  the  settlers  for  so  many 
years  long  secured  him  from  molestation. 
His  age  was  such  that  there  was  little  dan- 
ger of  his  going  to  the  enemy  and  he  could 
not  well  be  a  fighting  man.  But  the  exten- 
sive property  which  he  and  his  family  pos- 
sessed was  a  strong  temptation  to  the 
sequestrators.  Anonymous  letters  were  sent 
to  him  threatening  midnight  assassination, 
and  there  were  circumstances  that  satisfied 
him  that  the  writers  would  not  shrink  from 
making  their  words  good.  Yielding  to  an 
emergency,  which  he  regarded  necessary  to 
save  his  life,  he  abandoned  his  entire  worldly 
wealth  and  started  for  Canada,  and  died  on 
his  way  on  Lake  Champlain,  November  2, 
1777,  and  was  buried  at  ';  Quaker  Smith's" 
point  on  the  shores  of  the  lake  in  Shelburne, 
Vermont.  It  was  a  sad  day  to  Arlington 
when  Jehiel  Hawley  left  the  settlement, 
mainly  of  his  own  planting,  to  seek  safety  in 


Canada.  Thus  ended  the  life  of  this  truly- 
great  and  good  man,  of  whom  it  may  be  said 
his  enemies  could  find  no  fault.  The  late 
Chief  Justice  of  Vermont,  Hon.  Charles  K. 
Williams,  said  to  Samuel  Canfield,  "that 
undoubtedly  Capt.  Jehiel  Hawley  was  the 
ablest  man  in  his  day  in  Vermont." 

Nathan  Canfield  remained  at   Arlington 

O 

during  the  war.  He  was  the  leading  busi- 
ness spirit  of  the  town,  merchant,  landlord, 
justice  of  the  peace  and  town  representative 
after  Vermont  became  a  State.  He  built  a 
large  saw  mill  and  furnace  for  smelting  iron 
ore,  the  first  in  the  State,  organized  the  first 
church,  and  at  his  house  the  preliminary 
arrangements  for  the  first  convention  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  Vermont 
were  made  100  years  ago.  The  house  he 
built  is  still  standing,  and  in  it  Samuel  Can- 
field  and  his  son,  Thomas  Hawley  Canfield, 
were  born. 

At  this  distant  day  it  is  very  difficult  to 
understand  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of 
those  troublesome  times,  and  the  fact  that 
two  such  men  as  Jehiel  Hawley  and  Nathan 
Canfield  could  have  passed  through  them  all, 
retaining  the  confidence  of  the  whole  com- 
munity, managing  the  public  business  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all  factions,  demonstrates  that 
they  were  men  of  uncommon  judgment  and 
common  sense,  as  well  as  extraordinary  char- 
acter for  integrity  and  ability. 

Samuel  Canfield  inherited  many  of  the 
prominent  traits  of  his  father,  Nathan  Can- 
field,  and  from  1820  to  1840,  the  time  of  his 
death,  was  the  leading  man  of  Arlington, 
and  during  the  most  of  that  time  was  sheriff 
or  deputy  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Benning- 
ton,  an  office  of  prominence  and  distinction 
in  those  days.  He  became  one  of  the  most 
popular  men  in  that  portion  of  the  State, 
practically  controlling  the  politics  of  the 
county.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  stature, 
cheerful  and  persuasive  manners,  a  good 
judge  of  men,  upright,  reliable,  energetic. 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


the  soul  of  honor,  and  true  as  steel  to  his 
friends.  He  died  September  29,  1840,  being 
at  that  time  representative-elect  to  the  legis- 
lature of  Vermont  from  Arlington.  His 
wife,  Mary  Ann  Hawley,  great-grand- 
daughter of  Capt.  Jehiel  Hawley,  above 
mentioned,  possessed  many  of  the  traits  of 
iier  ancestors.  A  lady  of  commanding 
presence,  attractive  features,  charming  man- 
ners and  bright  intellect,  of  rare  executive 
ability,  universally  respected  and  the 
acknowledged  leader  in  every  society  where 
she  was  known.  She  died  July  22,  1825, 
leaving  her  only  son,  at  three  years  of  age, 
Thomas  Hawley  Canfield. 

Such  were  his  ancestors  and  such  the  try- 
ing times  in  which  thev  lived. 

w 

THOMAS  HAWLEY  CANFIELD, 

whose  name  heads  our  present  article,  was 
brought  up  on  a  farm,  rising  early  and  work- 
ing from  morning  to  night  with  the  men, 
taking  his  share  in  every  kind  of  work  until 
he  became  familiar  with  all  the  details  of 
farm  work,  which,  with  the  habits  of  order, 
economy  and  management  then  formed, 
have  been  of  great  service  to  him  in  after 
years.  His  early  education  was  obtained 
mostly  in  the  common  schools  of  his  native 
town,  although  he  soon  evinced  a  strong 
desire  for  something  more  advanced  than 
they  afforded.  Accordingly,  he  was  placed 
by  his  father  at  Burr  Seminary,  in  Man- 
chester, Yermont,  at  its  opening  in  May, 
1833,  under  those  able  professors,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Lyinan  Coleman,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  H. 
Worcester,  John  Aiken,  Esq.,  and  Wm.  A. 
Burnham,  where  he  remained  until  he  was 
fitted  for  college  at  the  age  of  fourteen. 
Notwithstanding  the  standard  of  this  semi- 
nary was  very  high,  and  he  the  youngest 
pupil  among  150,  all  much  older  than  him- 
self, yet  he  acquitted  himself  very  creditably, 
taking  the  highest  rank  in  all  his  classes. 


Having  a  decided  taste  for  practical  matters, 
and  not  desiring  to  enter  college  at  this  early 
age,  he  returned  home  to  the  work  of  the 
farm  for  two  years,  when  he  was  transferred 
to  the  Troy  Episcopal  Institute  with  refer- 
ence to  a  scientific  course  of  study,  which 
had  a  very  efficient  corps  of  instructors, 
among  them  the  present  Bishop  of  Yermont. 
He  was  particularly  fond  of  mathematics, 
and  it  was  while  demonstrating  a  difficult 
problem  at  a  public  examination  in  the  city 
of  Troy,  New  York,  that  he,  although  an 
entire  stranger,  arrested  the  attention  of  the 
late  Bishop  Alonzo  Potter,  of  Pennsylvania, 
who  was  one  of  the  examiners,  and  then  the 
acting  president  of  Union  College,  Schenec- 
tady,  New  York.  The  principal  of  the  Troy 
Episcopal  Institute  subsequently  published 
an  arithmetic  for  schools,  based  mostly  upon 
problems  and  examples  which  he  had  pre- 
pared and  which  were  worked  out  and  solved 
for  him  by  young  Canfield.  President  Pot- 
ter became  so  interested  in  the  promptness 
and  accuracy  with  which  he  disposed  of 
all  examples  presented  to  him  that  he 
determined  to  insist  upon  the  young  man 
having  a  higher  and  broader  education,  and 
finally  prevailed  upon  him  to  abandon  his 
idea  of  becoming  a  civil  engineer  and  to 
enter  the  junior  class  in  Union  College  in  the 
fall  of  1839.  It  was  a  very  trying  ordeal  for 
him  to  pass  through,  being  by  far  the  young- 
est in  a  class  of  over  eighty,  who  had  had  all 
the  advantages  of  the  freshman  and  soph- 
omore years,  but  yet,  through  the  same  inde- 
fatigable energy  and  perseverance  which  had 
characterized  his  conduct  thus  far  in  life  in 
everything  which  he  had  undertaken,  he  was 
one  of  the  "  maximum  ten  "  who  came  out  at 
the  head  of  the  class.  Soon  after  the  begin- 
ning of  the  senior  year  he  was  summoned 
to  Yermont  by  the  sudden  death  of  his 
father,  and  although  strongly  urged  by  Pres- 
ident Potter,  who,  during  the  junior  year, 
had  taken  great  interest  in  him  and  offered 


10 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


to  assist  him  to  any  position  he  should  want 
after  graduation,  as  well  as  by  his  own  rel- 
atives, to  return  and  complete  his  college 
course,  he  considered  the  duty  he  owed  to 
his  mother  and  only  sister  paramount  to 
everything  else,  and  again  took  up  the  bur- 
den of  the  farm,  and  thus,  at  the  early  age 
of  eighteen,  his  business  life  began,  which 
has  continued  constant*  and  uninterrupted 
to  the  present  day. 

In  addition  to  the  cures  and  duties  of  the 
farm,  he  was  active  in  all  public  matters 
having  for  their  object  the  improvement  and 
well-being  of  society.  He  organized  a 
lyceum,  established  debating  societies,  and 
procured  prominent  lecturers  upon  various 
subjects  (among  them  Colonel  Crockett), 
which,  during  the  winter  months,  called  out 
crowded  houses.  About  this  time  a  new 
element  appeared  in  the  temperance  move- 
ment, the  coming  out  on  the  stage  of  "  six 
reformed  drunkards  from  Baltimore,"  who 
took  the  platform  throughout  the  country, 
and  were  enabled  by  their  own  experience 
to  portray  more  vividly  than  had  ever  been 
done  before  the  terrible  consequences  which 
followed  in  the  trail  of  intemperance.  Mr. 
Canfield  organized  a  series  of  meetings  in 
Arlington  and  adjoining  towns,  and  secured 
one  of  these  men  to  address  them  as  well  as 
himself,  and  soon  had  enrolled  upon  the 
total  abstinence  pledge  large  numbers,  the 
result  of  which  was  a  great  improvement  in 
the  morals  of  the  community. 

Finding  the  labor  of  the  farm  too  severe 
for  his  slender  constitution,  he  removed,  in 
1844.  to  Williston, Vermont,  where  he  became 
a  merchant,  having  in  the  meantime  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  A.,  only  daughter  of  Eli  Chit- 
tenden,  a  grandson  of  Thomas  Chittenden, 
the  first  governor  of  Yermont.  She  died  in 
1848,  and  he  subsequently  married  Caroline 
A.,  the  youngest  daughter  of  the  Et.  Kev. 
Bishop  Hopkins,  of  Yermont,  a  charming 
and  accomplished  lady,  who  is  still  living, 


and  by  whom  he  has  two  sons  and  three 
daughters — Emily,  John  Henry  Hopkins, 
Marion,  Flora  and  Thomas  H.,  Jr.,  all  now 
engaged  in  completing  their  education  in 
Burlington,Vermont,  at  the  Diocesan  Church 
Schools  and  the  University  of  Yermont. 

REMOVAL    TO    BURLINGTON. 

In  addition  to  the  ordinary  business  of 
merchandise,  Mr.  Canfield  added  to  it  the  pur- 
chase of  the  products  of  the  country,  butter, 
cheese,  wool,  starch,  cattle,  sheep,  horses  and 
everything  which  the  farm  raised,  thereby 
carrying  out  the  idea  of  home  protection 
and  creating  a  home  market  for  their  pro- 
duce. Here  he  built  up  and  carried  on  an 
extensive  business  under  very  pleasant  cir- 
cumstances until  April,  1847,  when  he 
removed  to  Burlington,  Yermont,  where  he 
still  resides,  to  take  the  place  in  the  firm  of 
Follett  &  Bradley,  the  .leading  wholesale 
merchants  and  forwarders  in  northern  Yer- 
mont, made  vacant  by  the  withdrawal  of 
Judge  Follett,  who  had  taken  the  presidency 
of  the  Rutland  &  Burlington  Railroad, 
then  in  course  of  construction.  Mr.  Canfield 
for  some  time  resisted  this  arrangement, 
believing  himself  too  young  and  inexperi- 
enced for  the  important  position  tendered 
him,  but  finally  was  induced  to  yield  to  the 
persistent  entreaties  of  Follett  &  Bradley, 
who  had  recognized  in  his  short  business 
career  at  Williston  the  peculiar  traits  in  his 
character  which  fitted  him  particularly  for  the 
responsible  position  which  they  desired  him 
to  occupy.  Their  office  and  headquarters  were 
at  the  stone  store  on  "Water  street,  Burling- 
ton, near  the  steamer  wharf  and  railroad 
depot.  As  there  wrere  no  railroads  in 
Yermont  in  those  days,  all  of  the  pro- 
duce of  every  kind  of  the  farm,  mine  or 
manufactory  came  to  Burlington  for  ship- 
ment to  market,  and  the  goods  for  the  mer- 
chants in  the  country,  from  Boston  and 
New  York,  came  here  in  return.  To  accom- 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


II 


modate  and  facilitate  this  business,  Bradley 
&  Canfielcl  had  extensive  wharves  and  ware- 
houses, as  well  as  a  line  of  boats  to  New 
York  and  Boston  for  the  transportation  of 
this  property  both  ways,  their  wharves 
also  being  the  regular  landing  place  of  the 
passenger  steamers  and  other  vessels,  result- 
ing in  an  extensive  business,  requiring  not 
only  much  capital,  but  also  great  care  and 
ability  to  manage  this  part  of  it,  which 
devolved  principally  upon  Mr.  Canfield. 
About  this  time,  Professor  Morse  having 
brought  his  telegraph  into  practical  opera- 
tion between  the  principal  cities,  Mr.  Can- 
field,  in  connection  with  Professor  Benedict, 
the  Hon.  Ezra  Cornell,  founder  of  Cornell 
University,  and  Colonel  John  H.  Peck,  got 
up  a  line  between  Montreal  and  Troy,  New 
York.  Mr.  Canfield  visited  Yergennes, 
Orwell,  Middlebury,  Rutland  and  many 
other  towns  along  the  line,  getting  stock- 
holders and  organizing  the  company,  and  on 
the  2d  day  of  February,  1848,  the  first 
message  passed: 

From  the  City  of  Troy  to  the  City  of  Burlington  : 

We  do  sincerely  congratulate  you  as  having  be- 
come, at  this  early  day,  one  of  those  favored  com- 
munities, united  by  the  life  blood  of  speedy  communi- 
cation, and  as  sincerely  congratulate  ourselves  on  being 
able  to  salute,  face  to  face  the  queen  city  of  Lake 
Champlain. 

FIRST    RAILROAD    IN    VERMONT. 

But  the  time  had  come  for  Yermont  to  be 
invaded  by  railroads  from  Boston  ;  one  via 
Concord  and  Montpelier,  and  the  other 
via  Fitchburg,  Bellows  Falls  and  Rutland, 
were  being  extended  across  the  Green 
mountains  by  two  different  routes  to  Bur- 
lington. His  firm,  Bradley  &  Canfield,  with 
two  or  three  other  gentlemen,  were  engaged 
in  building  the  one  from  Bellows  Falls  by 
the  way  of  Rutland,  which  was  completed  in 
December,  1849.  At  the  same  time,  in  con- 
nection with  George  W.  Strong,  of  Rutland, 
and  Merritt  Clark,  of  Poultney,  they  built 


the  Rutland  &  Washington  Railroad  from 
Rutland  to  Eagle  Bridge,  New  York,  con- 
necting at  that  point  with  a  railroad  to  Troy 
and  another  to  Albany,  thus  opening  the  first 
line  of  railroad  to  New  York  as  well  as  to  Bos- 
ton from  northwestern  Yermont.  While  these 
were  in  progress  Messrs.  Bradley  &  Canfield, 
in  connection  with  T.  F.  Strong  and  Joseph 
and  Selah  Chamberlin, built  the  Ogdensburgh 
Railroad  from  Rouse's  Point  to  Ogdensburgh, 
as  well  as  other  rail  roads  in  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Canfield  was  now  fairly 
enlisted  with  a  fleet  of  boats  in  the  trans- 
portation business  between  Montreal,  Yer- 
mont and  New  York,  as  well  as  in  mercantile 
pursuits  and  in  the  building  of  railroads, 
which  at  that  time  but  few  contractors 
undertook.  In  the  management  of  these 
great  interests  Mr.  Canfield  formed  an  exten- 
sive acquaintance  and  gained  a  knowledge  of 
the  resources  of  the  country  on  both  sides 
of  Lake  Champlain,  which  gave  him  an 
experience  in  handling  and  transporting  the 
products  of  the  country  that  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  directors  of  the  Rutland  & 
Washington  Railroad,  and  commended  him 
as  a  fit  man  to  manage  its  affairs,  and  to 
open  and  organize  it  for  business.  As  soon 
as  completed  they  selected  him  for  superin- 
tendent, which  he  declined.  But  so  many 
of  his  friends  were  interested  in  it,  and  it 
being  a  new  departure  in  the  transportation 
of  western  Yermont,  he  yielded  to  their 
appeals  and  accepted  the  situation,  retaining 
at  the  same  time  the  management  of  his 
former  business  at  Burlington.  Mr.  Canfield 
afterward  became  president  of  the  Rutland 
&  Washington  Railroad,  and  subsequently 
took  a  lease  of  it  and  operated  it  on  his  own 
account,  being  probably  the  first  railroad  in 
the  country  ever  leased  by  a  private  indi- 
vidual. It  was  while  Mr.  Canfield  had  this 
lease  that  Jay  Gould  appeared  upon  the 
stage,  and  endeavored  at  an  annual  meeting 
of  the  stockholders  by  a  coup  d'etat  to  get 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


control  of  the  road,  but  he  found  his  match 
in  Mr.  Canfield,  who  had  anticipated  his 
plans  and  completely  defeated  them.  Sub- 
sequently, after  the  termination  of  the  lease 
and  surrender  by  Mr.  Canfield  of  the  road  to 
the  trustees,  Mr.  Gould  acquired  an  interest, 
and  afterward  controlled,  which  laid  the 
foundation  of  his  subsequent  notable  and 
prosperous  career. 

The  operating  of  railroads  was  then  com- 
paratively in  its  infancy,  and  there  were  few 
experienced  men  to  be  employed.  He  at 
once  instituted  a  rigid  system  of  discipline 
and  accountability,  in  which  at  first  he  met 
with  opposition  ;  but  after  a  time  all  became 
impressed  with  the  justice  and  importance 
of  it,  and  he  received  the  hearty  cooperation 
of  the  employes  and  directors,  and  thus 
established  an  esprit  de  corps  among  all  con- 
nected with  it  which  made  the  "Eagle  Bridge 
Route"  celebrated  for  its  promptness,  speed 
and  regularity,  its  accomodation  to  the 
traveling  and  business  public,  and  its  em- 
ployes as  among  the  best  railroad  men  in  the 
country. 

Heretofore  it  required  two  days  for  the 
mails  as  well  as  passengers  to  go  between 
Burlington  or  Montreal  and  New  York.  Mr. 
Canfield  first  proposed  to  make  a  day  line 
between  the  cities.  He  went  to  New  York 
to  enlist  Governor  Morgan,  then  president 
of  the  Hudson  River  Railroad,  in  the  plan, 
but  he  was  coldly  received  by  him,  for  the 
reason  that  the  governor  believed  it  was 
simply  impossible.  But  after  several  in- 
terviews the  governor  consented  to  make 
the  trial  for  three  months,  on  condition 
that  Mr.  Canfield  would  guarantee  his 
company  from  any  loss.  It  is  300  miles 
from  New  York  to  Burlington,  and  about 
four  hundred  to  Montreal,  which  involved  an 
average  speed  of  about  forty  miles  an  hour. 
Accordingly,  on  the  15th  day  of  May,  1852, 
at  6  o'clock  A..  M.,  a  train  left  the  Chambers' 
street  depot  in  New  York,  Mr.  French,  super- 


intendent of  the  Hudson  River  Railroad,  Mr. 
Johnson,  superintendent  of  the  Troy  & 
Boston  Railroad,  and  Mr.  Canfield  with  two 
or  three  reporters,  being  all  that  would  risk 
their  lives  upon  such  a  crazy  experiment.  The 
train  arrived  at  Rutland  on  time  at  1:25  P.  M., 
having  made  the  run  from  Eagle  Bridge,  sixty- 
two  miles,  in  eighty-five  minutes,  making  five 
stops,with  Nat.  Gooken,  'engineer,  and  Amos 
Story,  conductor.  Burlington  was  reached 
at  3:20  p.  M.,  and  Montreal  at  7  P.  M.  But 
for  the  fact  that  it  had  on  board  the  New 
York  papers  of  that  morning  it  would  have 
been  impossible  to  have  made  the  public 
believe  that  it  came  from  beyond  Troy. 
Thus  was  settled  a  question  of  great  impor- 
tance, the  establishing  of  a  daily  intercourse 
between  Montreal  and  New  York,  since 
which  time  two  daily  trains  have  been  kept 
up  most  of  the  time. 

Burlington,  previous  to  the  advent  of  rail- 
roads, had  been  the  commercial  center  of 
northern  Vermont,  and  had  been  built  up 
from  the  trade  arising  from  its  being  the 
point  of  shipment  to  the  New  York  and  Bos- 
ton markets  of  the  produce  of  the  country, 
and  the  receipt  and  distribution  of  merchan- 
dise in  return.  Large  numbers  of  eight  and 
ten-horse  teams  from  Woodstock,  Northfield, 
Bradford,  St.  Johnsbury,  Hyde  Park,  Derby 
Line,  Montpelier  and  other  places,  with  their 
loads  of  starch,  butter,  cheese,  wool,  scales 
and  manufactured  goods,  kept  up  a  lively 
business  with  the  interior,  bringing  to  Bur- 
lington much  money  to  be  exchanged  for 
flour,  salt,  iron,  steel,  nails  and  other  mer- 
chandise. In  addition  to  this  the  lines  of 
boats  running  to  Troy,  Alban}r,  New  York, 
Montreal,  and  all  points  on  the  lake,  created 
an  active  and  prosperous  business  for  Bur- 
lington, and  it  became  a  very  thriving  and 
beautiful  town. 

When  the  question  came  up  of  connecting 
by  railroad  Boston  and  Burlington,  two- 
routes  were  proposed,  one  via  Montpelier 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


and  Concord,  and  the  other  via  Rutland  and 
Fitch  burg.  There  was  much  difference  of 
opinion  among  the  citizens  which  would  be 
most  for  the  interest  of  Burlington,  or  in 
other  words,  which  would  injure  it  the  least, 
or  least  interfere  with  its  already  prosperous 
business.  Public  meetings  were  held,  much 
excitement  and  feeling  prevailed ;  one  party, 
headed  by  the  old  established  house  of  J.  & 
J.  H.  Peck  &  Co.,  advocating  the  Vermont 
Central  route  via  Montpelier,  of  which  Gov- 
ernor Charles  Paine  became  president,  and 
the  other  party,  represented  by  Bradley  & 
Canfield,  urging  the  Rutland  line,  of  which 
Judge  Follett  became  president,  who  main- 
tained that  as  Burlington  had  always  derived 
its  business  more  or  less  from  eastern 
and  northeastern  Vermont,  and  parts  of 
New  Hampshire  adjacent,  that  a  railroad 
from  Boston,  penetrating  these  sections, 
would  divert  the  trade  direct  to  Boston,  and 
thereby  injure  Burlington  correspondingly  ; 
while  from  the  south  Burlington  had  never 
had  any  trade,  the  connection  with  market 
from  that  portion  of  Vermont  being  made 
directly  writh  the  different  shipping  ports  on 
the  lake,  and  hence  it  was  evident  that  while 
Burlington  had  nothing  to  lose,  but  every 
thing  to  gain  by  opening  a  trade  with  the 
towns  of  western  and  southern  Vermont,  at 
the  same  time  the  line  to  Boston  would  be 
shorter  than  by  Montpelier,  and,  besides,  a 
connection  could  be  made  at  Rutland  with 
railroads  to  Troy  and  Alban\T,  and  thus  have 
a  direct  rail  communication  with  New  York 
and  the  West  in  the  wmter  as  well  as  in  the 
summer.  The  result  of  this  controversy  was 
the  building  of  both  lines,  which  was  greatly 
accelerated  by  the  powerful  aid  and  influ- 
ence contributed  by  the  two  contending 
parties,  and  on  the  18th  of  December,  1849, 
the  first  train  from  Boston  via  Rutland  came 
into  Burlington,  and  on  the  25th  day  of  the 
same  month  the  first  train  via  Montpelier 
arrrived  at  Winooski,  the  bridge  over  the 


river  at  that  place  not  being  finished  to 
admit  it  to  Burlington.  With  the  advent  of 
the  Vermont  Central  train  the  fine  ten-horse 
teams  of  Governor  Paine  and  others  ceased 
their  trips  forever  to  Burlington,  and  the 
elegant  and  celebrated  six-horse  teams  and 
coaches  of  Cottrell  and  Shattuck,  of  Mont- 
pelier, took  their  departure  for  the  last  time, 
as  had  before  much  of  the  business  from  that 
part  of  the  State ;  and  the  prostration  and 
decline  of  Burlington  began,  and  stagnation 
in  business  reigned  supreme,  as  Bradley  & 
Canfield  had  maintained  would  be  the  case 
if  the  Vermont  Central  line  was  built. 

Originally,  to  counteract  the  injury  to  a 
certain  extent  which  might  arise  to  Burling- 
ton from  a  diversion  of  its  business  by  the 
Central  line,  it  was  contended  by  its  friends 
that,  its  terminus  being  in  Burlington  with 
its  shops,  offices,  etc.,  new  business  would  be 
created  to  offset  in  part  the  loss  of  the  old. 
It  was  also  understood  that  an  independent 
railroad  should  be  built  from  Burlington 

O 

north  to  Canada  to  accommodate  both  the 
Boston  lines,  which  were  to  make  their 
termini  in  Burlington.  But  the  excitement 
ran  so  high  during  the  building  that  Gov- 
ernor Paine,  after  becoming  sure  that  his  line 
would  be  built,  gave  up  coming  to  Burling- 
ton, and  arranged,  with  the  aid  of  John  Smith 
and  Lawrence  Brainerd,  of  St.  Albans, 
and  Joseph  Clark,  of  Milton,  three  of  the 
shrewdest  and  most  capable  business  men 
ever  raised  in  Vermont,  to  make  a  line  north 
from  Essex  Junction,  thus  practically  extend- 
ing the  main  line  of  the  Central  to  Rouse's 
Point,  leaving  Burlington  at  one  side  to  be 
reached  by  a  branch  of  six  miles.  This 
move  gave  the  final  blow  to  Burlington,  and 
left  the  Rutland  Railroad  without  any  rail 
connection  north,  and  forced  it  to  make  its 
connections  with  the  Ogdensburgh  and 
Champlain  and  St.  Lawrence  Railroads  to 
Montreal,  at  Rouse's  Point  by  boat.  To 
meet  this  emergency,  as  the  Rutland  Rail- 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


road  Company  had  not  the  right  by  its 
charter  to  build  boats,  Bradley  &  Canfield 
came  to  the  rescue,  and  within  ninety  days, 
early  in  the  spring  of  1850,  constructed  four 
barges  of  the  capacity  of  3,000  barrels  of 
flour  each,  and  the  steamer  "Boston"  to  tow 
them  between  Burlington  and  Rouse's  Point; 
and  this  enabled  the  Eutland  line  to  com  pete 
successfully  for  the  western  business  with  the 
Vermont  Central. 

FIRST   CARGO   OF    FLO  PR    BY    THE 
ST.    LAWRENCE    ROUTE. 

Previous  to  this,  as  early  as  1847,  Mr. 
Canfield  felt  that  a  change  in  the  character 
of  the  business  at  Burlington  was  inevitable 
so  soon  as  the  railroads  should  be  completed, 
and  to  supply  what  would  be  destroyed  new 
branches  would  have  to  be  built  up.  All 
the  flour  and  salt  heretofore,  for  northern 
Yermont  and  New  York,  came  from  Troy 
and  Albany  by  canal  via  "Whitehall,  while 
that  for  the  rest  of  New  England,  after  pass- 
ing through  the  Erie  canal,  found  its  way 
to  Boston  and  other  ports  either  by  water, 
by  way  of  New  York,  or  by  the  Boston  & 
Albany  Railroad  to  the  inland  towns.  He 
thus  early  took  the  ground  that,  with  the 
new  proposed  lines  of  railroads  completed 
between  the  Atlantic  and  River  St.  Lawrence, 
a  new  route  would  have  to  be  opened  by  that 
way  and  the  upper  lakes  to  the  wheat 
regions  of  the  West.  Upon  consultation 
with  leading  forwarders  at  Troy  and 
Albany,  a  movement  of  this  kind,  he 
found,  would  incur  the  hostility  of  New 
York  and  all  parties  interested  in  the 
navigation  of  the  Erie  canal,  which  at 
that  time  was  the  main  channel  of  trans- 
portation between  the  lakes  and  Hudson 
river.  But  Mr.  Canfield.  nothing  daunted 
by  such  intimations,  went  in  the  spring  of 
1848  to  Montreal,  and  laid  his  views  and 
plans  for  a  northern  route  before  Messrs. 
Holmes,  Young  &  Knapp,  the  most  promi- 
nent merchants  in  Canada,  and  who  carried 


on  an  extensive  business  with  Cleveland, 
Detroit  and  Chicago  in  wheat,  flour  and 
pork.  They  concurred  with  him  in  the 
desirability,  but  not  the  practicability  of  the 
scheme.  From  thence  he  went  up  the  St. 
Lawrence  river,  stopping  at  Ogdensburgh, 
Kingston,  Sackett's  Harbor,  Oswego,  Roch- 
ester and  Buffalo,  to  Cleveland.  Here  he 
met  Messrs.  A.  H.  &  D.  N.  Barney,  who 
were  engaged  in  boating  on  the  western 
lakes,  and  who  have  since  become  so  promi- 
nent in  the  railroad  and  express  business  in 
New  York  City,  and  engaged  them  to  send 
a  vessel  with  a  load  of  flour  to  Montreal, 
which  he  purchased  on  his  own  account. 
This  vessel,  although  passing  the  locks  in  the 
Welland  and  St.  Lawrence  canals  to  Mon- 
treal, was  too  large  to  pass  those  of  the 
Chambly  into  Lake  Champlain,  and  hence 
Mr.  Canfield  had  to  unload  the  flour  at 
Montreal,  and  after  much  trouble  with  the 
custom-house  officers  transferred  it  by  ferry- 
boat to  La  Prairie,  nine  miles  above  Mon- 
treal, on  the  opposite  side  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, thence  by  rail  to  St.  Johns,  at  the 
foot  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  then  by 
steamer  to  Burlington.  This  was  the  first 
cargo  of  flour  ever  sent  from  Lake  Erie  to 
Lake  Champlain  via  Welland  canal  and  St. 
Lawrence  river,  and  the  entering-wedge 
which  Mr.  Canfield  then  believed,  and  still 
believes,  to  a  great  water  communication 
from  the  west  end  of  Lake  Superior  to  Lake 
Champlain,  by  which  steam  vessels  of  much 
larger  size  than  any  now  on  the  lakes,  will 
make  the  whole  passage  without  break- 
ing bulk,  and  ultimately  going  through 
to  New  York  by  the  conversion  of 
the  Champlain  canal  between  Whitehall 
and  Troy  into  a  ship  canal.  Although  it 
was  an  expensive  experiment,  yet  it  showed 
that  there  was  another  route  than  that  by  the 
Erie  canal,  which  was  sooner  or  later  to  be 
developed  into  an  important  one.  The  next 
season  Bradley  &  Canfield,  in  order  to  more 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


fully  demonstrate  the  practicability  of  their 
new  route,  chartered  the  steam  propeller 
"  Earl  of  Cathcart "  to  run  between  Detroit 
and  Montreal,  agreeing  to  furnish  at  Detroit 
1,500  barrels  of  flour  every  two  weeks,  at  a 
fixed  rate  of  freight,  to  be  paid  whether  the 
flour  was  shipped  or  not;  and  to  enable  them  to 
comply  with  this  contract  they  purchased  a. 
large  flouring  mill  at  Battle  Creek,  Michigan, 
to  manufacture  the  .flour,  and  stationed 
Eli  Chittenden  at  Detroit  to  attend  to  the 
shipments,  and  thus  opened  a  regular  trade 
via  Montreal  to  Burlington  the  whole  season. 

FIRST     LINE     OF     PROPELLERS     FROM   THE    UPPER 
LAKES    TO    OGDENSBURGH. 

Meanwhile  the  Ogdensburgh  Railroad  was 
completed,  and  Mr.  Canfiekl,  still  determined 
to  carry  out  his  original  plan  of  opening 
a  more  practicable  northern  route  for  much 
of  the  business  bet  ween  New  England  and  the 
West,  went  to  Oswego  and  Buffalo,  and  after 
investigating  .more  fully  the  operations  of 
steam  propellers  on  the  lakes  and  Welland 
canal,  made  a  contract  with  E.  C.  Bancroft, 
of  Oswego,  to  build  two  propellers  of  full 
size  for  the  Welland  canal  locks,  costing 
$20,000  each,  and  arranged  with  Chamberlin 
&  Crawford,  at  Cleveland,  to  supply  two 
more,  with  which  to  make  a  regular  line 
from  Detroit  to  Ogdensburgh.  The  Erie 
canal  forwarders,  becoming  alarmed  at  this 
new  departure,  procured  from  the  legislature 
of  New  York  a  reduction  of  tolls  on  wheat 
and  flour,  which  interfered  seriously  with  the 
new  route,  compelling  a  reduction  of  price  of 
freight  to  about  actual  cost.  This  reduction 
was  unnecessary,  as  it  did  not  alter  the  pro- 
duction, and  Mr.  Canfiekl  contended  that 
the  increased  production  of  grain  in  the 
new-developed  Western  States  would  keep 
pace  with  all  the  increased  facilities  of 
transportation,  which  has  since  proved  to 
be  true,  notwithstanding  there  are  now 
eight  through  lines  of  railroad,  as  well  as 
the  Erie  canal  and  various  water  lines 


on  the  St.  Lawrence  river.  Yery  few  peo- 
ple at  that  day  could  be  induced  to  concur  in 
Mr.  Canfield's  views  of  the  future  development 
of  the  great  Northwest,  and  in  looking  back 
now  it  is  as  difficult  to  realize  why  they 
could  not.  But  for  the  broad  views  and 
almost  prophetic  ideas  of  a  few  such  men, 
backed  up  by  tremendous  energy  and  perse- 
verance, the  great  internal  improvements  of 
this  country  might  yet  be  comparatively  in 
their  infancy. 

The  next  season,  1850,  opened  with  the 
line  of  propellers  between  Ogdensburgh  and 
Detroit.  But  the  fates  were  against  them. 
One  of  the  new  ones  with  a  large  cargo  ran 
onto  a  rock  in  the  upper  St.  Lawrence  and 
sank  on  the  first  trip,  and  another  was 
wrecked  on  her  second  voyage,  entailing  a 
very  heavy  loss  upon  Bradley  &  Canfield. 
Others  were  immediately  procured  to  take 
their  places,  and  the  line  was  kept  up,  so  that 
it  was  demonstrated  at  the  end  of  the  season 
that  with  proper  vessels  a  regular  line  could 
be  supported,  the  result  of  which  was  the 
establishment  of  the  Northern  Transporta- 
tion Line  from  Ogdensburgh  to  Detroit  and 
Chicago,  consisting  of  a  fleet  of  ten  or  fifteen 
propellers,  which  forever  settled  the  prac- 
ticability of  the  Northern  route,  so  that  at 
the  present  day  nearly  all  the  business 
between  northern  New  England  and  the 
West  is  done  that  way,  either  by  rail  or 
water.  During  the  four  or  five  years  of  its 
inauguration  Mr.  Canfield  was  the  main 
advocate  and  promoter  of  it,  and  it  was 
through  his  persistent  efforts  and  repeated 
journeys  between  Burlington  and  the  various 
ports  on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  upper  lakes, 
and  after  various  trials  and  experiments  and 
great  loss  of  time  and  money,  that  he  saw 
his  plans  succeed  and  the  route  thoroughly 
opened  and  maintained. 

CATJGHNAWAGA    SHIP    CANAL. 

But  there  were  some  obstacles  which  he  still 
encountered  and  especially  the  delay  and 


i6 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


damage  incident  to  transhipment  at  different 
points,  which  led  him  to  consider  the  plan  of  a 
continuous  water  route  without  tranship- 
ment from  the  upper  lakes,  involving  the  con- 
struction of  a  ship  canal  from  Caughnawaga, 
above  the  Lachine  Rapids,  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
river,  to  Lake  Champlain.  He  had  frequent 
interviews  in  Montreal  with  the  Hon.  John 
Young,Benjamin  Holmes,  Harrison  Stephens, 
Peter  McGill,  Messrs.  Holton  &  McPherson. 
forwarders,  all  of  whom  were  men  of  broad 
views  and  extended  knowledge  of  the 
resources  of  the  vast  West  on  both  sides  of 
the  line.  Mr.  Young  had  already  agitated 
the  subject  in  Canada,  and  there  was  no  man 
in  the  States  or  Dominion  who  was  better 
informed  upon  the  subject,  or  who  could 
present  it  in  a  more  convincing  and  magnetic 
manner.  Mr.  Canfield  arranged  a  series  of 
meetings  to  bring  the  scheme  before  the  pub- 
lic. One  was  held  in  Burlington,  August  14, 
1849,  which  was  addressed  bv  Mr.  Young, 

*/  o ' 

Judge  Follett  and  Charles  Adams,  Esq.,  of 
Burlington,  the  latter  gentleman  entering  into 
it  very  enthusiastically  as  well  as  intelli- 
gently. Another  was  held  at  Saratoga, 
August  21,  over  which  General  John  E. 
Wool  presided,  which  was  also  addressed  by 
Mr.  Young,  Mr.  Adams,  Chancellor  Wai- 
worth  and  many  other  prominent  men  from 
Montreal,  Troy,  Albany,  Whitehall  and  other 
•cities.  A  committee  was  appointed,  consist- 
ing of  prominent  citizens  in  the  States  and 
Canada,  to  devise  measures  to  carry  on  the 
enterprise.  A  survey  was  made,  and  it 
looked  as  though  the  project  might  be 
accomplished.  But  when  the  matter  came 
up  in  the  Parliament  of  Canada  for  a  charter 
an  unexpected  resistance  arose  from  Mon- 
treal, and  although  the  charter  was  finally 
granted,  there  were  so  many  impracticable 
conditions  attached  to  it,  that  Mr. Young  and 
his  friends  did  not  deem  it  wise  to  proceed 
under  its  provisions. 

The  fact  that  the  large  lumber  trade  with 


Canada  and  Michigan  has  grown  up  since  at 
Burlington,  even  with  the  much  inferior  and 
more  distant  connection  by  the  way  of  the 
Chambly  Canal,  demonstrates  the  necessity 
of  a  canal  of  much  larger  dimensions,  and 
had  the  original  plan  of  Mr.  Canfield  and  Mr. 
Young  been  carried  out,  Burlington  wrould 
long  since  have  become  the  distributing 
point  for  the  flour  and  grain  of  the  West 
as  well  as  lumber  for  nearly  all  of  New  Eng- 
land ;  the  large  steamers  leaving  Duluth  and 
Chicago  would  have  discharged  their  cargoes 
on  the  docks  at  Burlington  without  breaking 
bulk,  thereby  creating  a  business  which 
would  have  added  greatly  to  its  population 
and  prosperity,  and  made  it  one  of  the  most 
important  cities  of  New  England.  Mr. 
Canfield  still  believes  that  this  canal  will, 
sooner  or  later,  be  built;  that  the  necessities 
of  trade  and  commerce  will  demand  it,  and 
that  nothing  would  conduce  so  much  to  the 
growth  and  advancement  of  Burlington  as 
the  construction  of  the  Caughnawaga  Ship 
Canal. 

INCEPTION    OF    THE    NORTHERN    PACIFIC. 

While  Mr.  Canfield  was  thus  engaged  in 
these  various  enterprises  he  formed  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Mr.  Edwin  F.  Johnson,  then 
perhaps  the  most  experienced  railroad  engi- 
neer in  America,  who.spent  much  of  his  time 
at  Burlington  in  the  stone  store  of  Bradley 
&  Canfield.  Mr.  Johnson,  having  been  pro- 
jector of  the  Erie  Railroad  in  1836  from 
New  York  to  the  lakes,  as  well  as  having 
been  engaged  in  the  construction  of  the  Erie 
canal,  had  given  much  thought,  and  col- 
lected from  army  officers,  trappers  and 
traders  much  information  relative  to  the  belt 
of  country  between  the  great  lakes  and  the 
Pacific  ocean,  and  had  become  so  thoroughly 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  a  railroad 
to  the  Pacific  coast  that  he  was  constantly 
talking  with  Mr.  Canfield  upon  the  project 
to  induce  him  to  take  hold  of  it.  Mr. 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


Canfield,\vho  was  then  about  thirty  years  old, 
became  so  much  convinced  by  Mr.  Johnson's 
arguments,  as  well  as  by  his  own  study  of 
the  country,  of  the  practicability  of  a  rail- 
road across  the  continent,  that  he  resolved 
to  make  it  the  business  of  his  life  and  devote 
his  energies  and  talents  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  it,  believing  he  could  in  no  way  be 
so  instrumental  in  promoting  the  happiness 
and  welfare  of  his  fellow-men  as  in  opening 
to  settlement  that  immense  tract  of  fertile 
land  in  the  Northwest,  and  which  would 
furnish  homes  for  millions  of  the  poor  and 
down-trodden  of  all  nations. 

The  first  active  step  toward  it  was  the 
taking  of  a  contract  in  1852,  by  himself  and 
partners,  to  build  the  Chicago,  St.  Paul  & 
Fond  du  Lac  Railroad,  now  known  as  the 
Chicago  &  North \vestern  Railroad,  from 
Chicago  to  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  and  Fond 
du  Lac,  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Edwin  F.  Johnson 
was  made  chief  engineer.  At  this  time  there 
was  no  railroad  into  Chicago  from  the  East, 
and  the  materials  and  supplies  were  trans- 
ported from  Buffalo  by  boat  through  the 
lakes  and  straits  of  Mackinac  to  Chicago. 
Robert  J.  Walker,  secretary  of  the  treas- 
ury of  the  United  States,  N.  P.  Tall- 
mad  ge,  ex-United  States  senator  from  New 
York,  and  other  prominent  men  were  the 
•directors  of  the  company.  It  was  while 
Mr.  Johnson  was  thus  engaged  on  this  road 
that  he  used  to  have  long  talks  with  Mr. 
Canfield  about  a  line  of  railroad  to  the 
Pacific  ocean  from  St.  Paul,  and  wrote  an 
exhaustive  treatise  upon  Pacific  railroads, 
showing  that  the  northern  via  the  Missouri, 
Yellowstone  and  Columbia  rivers  was  the 
most  feasible  route,  as  well  as  passing  through 
the  most  productive  country.  This  made  a 
volume  of  150  pages,  with  an  extended  map, 
which  Mr.  Canfield  and  his  partner  published 
.at  their  own  expense,  upon  which  was  traced 
the  isothermal  line,  showing  that  the  climate 
became  milder  from  Minnesota  to  Puget 


Sound,  until  a  mean  temperature  there  was 
warmer  than  Chesapeake  Bay. 

ORIGIN    OF    THE    THREE    PACIFIC    RAILROAD 
EXPEDITIONS. 

The  Hon.  Jefferson  Davis  at  this  time 
was  Secretary  of  war,  and  with  the 
prominent  leaders  of  the  South  was  very 
desirous  to  extend  Southern  territory,  and 
doubtless  had  in  mind  at  some  future  time 
the  acquisition  of  Mexico.  Hearing  from 
his  associate  in  the  cabinet,  the  Hon. 
Robert  J.  Walker,  that  Mr.  Johnson  had  in 
manuscript  the  above-mentioned  volume,  he 
came  to  New  York  and  sought  an  introduc- 
tion to  him,  whom  he  knew  to  be  an  engineer 
of  extensive  knowledge  and  that  whatever 
he  had  written  was  reliable  and  im- 
portant. At  his  request  Mr.  Johnson  loaned 
him  the  manuscript  for  a  few  days,  and  after 
reading  it,  and  seeing  the  conclusion  to 
which  Mr.  Johnson  had  come,  that  the 
northern  route  was  the  most  feasible,  not 
only  with  respect  to  its  topographical  feat- 
ures, soil,  climate  and  mineral  resources,  but 
also  of  great  importance,  being  so  near  to 
the  British  line  in  the  military  and  commer- 
cial point  of  view,  he  came  on  to  New  York 
to  return  the  manuscript  and  see  Mr.  John- 
son again.  Inasmuch  as  this  came  in  con- 
flict with  Mr.  Davis'  cherished  plans,  he 
endeavored  to  convince  Mr.  Johnson  that  he 
must  have  greatly  underrated  the  difficulties 
of  the  northern  route,  the  obstruction  by 
snow,  the  elevation  of  the  main  summit 
of  the  Rocky  mountains,  which  was  really 
3,000  feet  lower  than  those  by  the  Union 
Pacific,  and  that  he  did  not  realize  how 
rapidly  the  ground  rises  near  the  source  of 
streams ;  while  to  any  practical  engineer  the 
most  feasible  point  for  crossing  the  Rocky 
mountains  which  would  naturally  strike 
him,  would  be  at  the  divide,  where  the 
waters  of  the  two  rivers  to  the  Pacific  ocean 
and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  take  their  rise — the 


i8 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


Mississippi  and  Columbia.  Mr.  Johnson  lis- 
tened attentively  to  what  Mr.  Davis  had  to 
say  and  replied:  "that  he  had  given  the 
subject  much  thought  and  patient  investiga- 
tion, but  his  conclusions  were  strictly  logical 
from  the  facts,  and  that  he  had  no  doubt 
of  the  full  verification  of  his  estimates 
by  actual  measurement  hereafter  to  be 
made,''  which  the  actual  surveys  for  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad  have  since  con- 
firmed; and  if  the  profile  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  of  to-day  be  compared  with  the  profile 
accompanying  the  above  manuscript  of  Mr. 
Johnson,  the  coincidence  would  be  found 
wonderful. 

Mr.  Davis,  finding  he  could  not  change 
Mr.  Johnson's  views  and  that  Mr.  Johnson 
was  going  to  publish  his  manuscript, 
returned  to  Washington  and  on  the  3d  of 
March,  1853.  procured  the  passage  of  a 
resolution  by  Congress,  authorizing  him,  the 
Secretary  of  war,  to  make  such  explorations 
as  he  might  deem  advisable,  to  ascertain  the 
most  practicable  route  for  a  railroad  from  the 
Mississippi  river  to  the  Pacific  ocean.  He 
at  once  organized  three  expeditions,  one 
by  the  way  of  the  Southern  route,  one  by 
the  middle  or  Central  route,  and  the  other  by 
the  Northern  route.  He  placed  in  charge 
of  the  expedition  at  the  eastern  end  of 
the  Northern  route,  Major  Isaac  I.  Stevens, 
then  the  secretary  of  the  National  Demo- 
cratic Committee,  and  Lieut.  George  B. 
McClellan  in  charge  of  the  Western  end, 
both  of  whom  were  particular  friends  of  his 
and  whom  he  had  expected  would  probably 
report  unfavorably  to  the  Northern  route. 
In  Lieut.  McClellan  he  realized  his  expecta- 
tions, but  Major  Stevens,  although  entering 
upon  the  work  with  strong  prejudices 
against  it,  become  a  convert  as  he  progressed 
to  the  Northern  route,  and  fully  confirmed 
all  Mr.  Johnson  had  predicted.  Major 
Stevens  became  so  convinced  of  the  superior- 
ity of  this  route  that  he  got  the  appointment 


from  President  Pierce  of  the  governorship 
of  Washington  Territory,  and  removed  there 
and  devoted  most  of  his  life  in  presenting  to 
the  public  the  great  importance  of  this  route, 
and  enlightening  public  opinion  with  respect 
to  its  wonderful  resources.  To  Edwin  F. 
Johnson,  more  than  any  other  man,  at  that 
early  day,  is  due  the  true  presentation  to  the 
public  of  the  merits  of  the  Northern  Pacific, 
based  upon  reliable  facts,  when  there  were 
but  very  few  people  in  this  country  who 
knew  anything  of  its  real  merits  and  the  re- 
sources of  the  country  through  which  it  was  to 
pass;  and  fewer  still  who  believed  it  was  pos- 
sible ever  to  build  it.  Then  and  there  was 
inaugurated  the  first  practical  steps  toward 
the  construction  of  a  railroad  by  the  North- 
ern route  in  1852  from  Chicago. 

In  those  days  railroad  building  was  slow 
compared  with  what  it  is  now,  materials 
difficult  to  get,  capital  timid,  contractors 
inexperienced,  and,  before  the  railroad  was 
finished  to  Fond  du  Lac,  the  panic  of  1857 
overtook  it  and  stopped  all  work,  embarrass- 
ing the  company  and  contractors.  Before 
the  company  could  be  reorganized  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion  came  on,  when  the  urgent 
necessity  of  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  became 
apparent,  and  the  Government  selected  the 
middle  route,  or  Union  Pacific,  as  the  first 
line  to  be  built,  granting  it  lands  and  a 
money  subsidy,  it  being  understood  at  the 
time  that  the  same  money  subsidy  should  at 
some  future  time  be  given  to  each  the 
Northern  and  Southern  routes.  But  this  was 
never  carried  out  by  Congress,  and  the  rail, 
roads  by  both  these  routes  had  to  be  built 
by  private  enterprise,  with  only  the  land 
grant,  but  without  any  money  subsidy  from 
the  United  States  Government. 

MANAGER     OF    GOVERNMENT   RAILROADS    DURING 
THE    WAR    OF   THE   REBELLION. 

Soon  after  the  war  broke  out  and  the 
Government  assumed  control  of  the  rail- 
roads of  the  country,  Col.  Thomas  A.  Scott, 


THOMAS  H.  CANF1ELD. 


of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  was  made 
assistant  secretary  of  war  and  general  man- 
ager, having  for  his  special  duties  the  collect- 
ing of  the  armies  of  the  United  States.  He 
sent  for  Mr.  Canfield  and  placed  him  in  charge 
of  all  the  railroads  aboutWashington  as  assist- 
ant manager.  At  this  time  Washington  was 
surrounded  by  the  rebels,and  all  communica- 
tion was  cut  off,  both  by  land  and  water,  except 
by  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad,  with  a  sin- 
gle track — all  the  materials  and  supplies  for 
the  daily  support  of  all  the  citizens,  the  army 
and  everything,  as  well  as  all  passengers  and 
troops,  had  to  be  taken  over  this  line.  It 
required  from  thirty  to  forty  trains  a  day 
each  way,  of  about  thirty-five  cars  each,  and 
the  fear  that  the  enemy  might  intercept 
them  at  any  time  caused  no  little  uneasiness 
to  the  President  and  his  Cabinet.  Even  the 
western  end  of  this  road  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  enemy,  its  officers  and  managers,  with 
one  honorable  exception,  the  superintendent, 
William  Prescott  Smith,  were  in  sympathy 
and  co-operating  with  the  rebels.  That 
portion  between  Baltimore  and  Washington 
was  guarded,  especially  at  the  culverts, 
embankments  and  bridges,  by  a  regiment 
under  the  command  of  Col.  John  H. 
Robinson,  of  Binghamton,  New  York. 

It  was  a  very  responsible  and  trying  posi- 
tion. The  flower  of  the  Confederate  army, 
under  their  experienced  and  popular  leader, 
General  Lee,  was  encamped  upon  the 
"  sacred  soil "  in  sight  of  the  capitol ;  rebel 
spies  and  allies  were  everywhere  present  in 
disguise,  occupying  positions  of  trust  in  the 
different  departments  of  the  Government, 
keeping  up  a  constant  secret  communication 
with  the  rebel  leaders  ;  the  whole  North  in 
a  state  of  anxiety  and  excitement  lest  the 
capital  of  the  Union,  with  its  treasures  and 
archives,  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  while  the  South  was  hourly  ex- 
pecting to  hear  of  its  surrender  to  General 
Lee,  and  its  occupation  by  their  troops. 


Every  avenue  of  communication  by  land 
and  water  with  the  District  of  Columbia  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  except  the  single 
iron  track  to  Baltimore,  over  which  the 
300,000  soldiers  for  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  were  to  be  transported  for  the  de- 
fense of  Washington,  as  well  as  everything 
for  the  support  of  man  and  beast  in  and 
about  Washington.  It  was  only  after  fre- 
quent interviews  and  repeated  assurances 
that  Mr.  Canfield  could  satisfy  President 
Lincoln  that  he  could,  on  the  single  track, 
keep  open  a  communication  with  Washington 
until  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  should  be 
collected,  provided  the  Government  would 
furnish  troops  enough  to  protect  the  line 
from  destruction. 

But  the  rigid  system  instituted  by  Mr. 
Canfield  of  guarding  the  track  the  whole 
distance  by  day  and  night,  the  employment 
of  experienced,  loyal  railroad  officers  and 
men  whom  he  knew,  and  in  whom  he  had 
confidence;  an  implicit  obedience  of  all 
employes  to  the  rules  and  regulations, 
enabled  him  to  transport  the  immense 
amount  of  freight,  passengers  and  troops 
during  the  whole  blockade  without  an 
accident  of  any  kind.  Never,  perhaps,  has 
there  been,  before  or  since  in  this  country,  so 
much  business  done  in  the  same  length 
of  time,  with  so  much  promptness  and 
safety,  upon  a  single-track  railroad.  Upon 
its  successful  operation  the  fate  of  the 
nation  may  then  have  been  said  to  de- 
pend. Even  after  the  Army  of  the  Po- 
tomac had  been  collected,  had  the  opera- 
tion of  this  railroad  been  cut  off  by  the 
rebels,  Washington  with  all  its  treasures  and 
archives,  and  even  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
itself,  would  probably  have  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  the  effect  of  which  at 
that  time  upon  the  future  of  this  nation  no  one 
can  imagine.  The  recognition  of  the  South- 
ern' Confederacy  by  foreign  governments 
would  have  been  assured,  which,  together 


THOMAS  ff.  CANFIELD. 


with  the  small  Northern  army  then  in  the 
field  and  the  sympathy  of  the  copperhead 
element  in  the  North  with  secession,  the 
preservation  of  the  Union  and  the  suppression 
of  the  Kebellion  would,  to  say  the  least,  have 
been  much  more  difficult.  The  prevention 
of  such  a  calamity  was  due  to  a  great  extent 
to  the  great  experience,  untiring  watchful- 
ness, cool  judgment  and  careful  manage- 
ment of  Mr.  Can  field,  who  was  master  of  the 
situation,  keeping  his  own  council  as  well  as 
the  secrets  of  the  Government  entrusted  to 
him,  so  very  necessary  in  those  critical  times. 

Soon  after  reaching  Washington,  Mr.  Can- 
field,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Hon.  Solomon 
Foote,  senator  from  Vermont,  got  permission 
from  Mr.  Cameron,  secretary  of  war,  to  raise 
a  cavalry  regiment  in  Vermont,  and  within 
twenty-four  hours  from  the  time  it  was  sug- 
gested he  received  a  commission  for  Col. 
L.  B.  Platt,  of  Colchester,  with  instructions 
to  purchase  the  horses  and  raise  the  regiment 
at  once.  As  Mr.  Canfield  could  not  be 
spared  from  Washington,  he  wrote  to  lead- 
ing men  in  different  parts  of  Vermont,  ap- 
pealing to  them  to  assist,  among  them  Z.  II. 
Canfield,  of  Arlington,  and  J.  D.  Hatch,  of 
Windsor,  the  result  of  which  was,  within 
sixty  days,  Col.  Platt  reported  with  his  regi- 
ment at  Washington,  which  rendered  service 
during  the  war  second  to  no  other  in  the 
army.  The  general  movement  of  the  army 
the  next  season  into  Virginia  and  the  South 
raised  the  blockade  and  removed  the 
necessity  of  further  vigilance  at  Washington; 
and  the  death  of  Mr.  Doolittle,  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  steamers  on  Lake  Champlain, 
created  a  vacancy  which  the  directors  of 
the  company  desired  Mr.  Canfield  to  fill, 
which  he  accepted,  returned  to  Bur- 
lington, Vermont,  and  for  several  years 
was  the  general  superintendent  and  treas- 
urer of  the  company. 

During  his  superintendency  the  business  of 
the  company  increased  rapidly,  and  the  few 


years   during  his  administration    were    the 
most  prosperous  the  company  ever  saw. 

In  1865  the  Clyde  Coal  and  Mining  Com- 
pany, of  Nova  Scotia,  owned  mostly  in  New 
York  and  Pennsylvania,  secured  his  services 
to  go  to  Cape  Breton  to  open  some  mines 
of  gas  coal,  from  which  place  the  gas  com- 
panies of  New  England,  New  York  and  even 
Washington  were  supplied.  While  there 
Mr.  Canfield,  in  the  winter  of  1865-66, 
made  an  examination  of  Louisburg  Harbor, 
the  best  harbor  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  from 
Cape  North  to  Cape  Sable,  thinking  it  would 
ultimately  become  the  terminus  of  the  trans- 
continental railroads,  from  which  point  a 
steamer  can  make  Liverpool  in  four  days. 
Since  that  time  railroads  have  been  built 
from  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  within  100  miles  of 
this  place,  thus  practically  confirming  his 
views  on  the  matter. 

FORMATION     OF     THE     SYNDICATE     TO     CONSTRUCT 
THE    NORTHERN    PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

During  the  war  Josiah  Perham,  of  Maine, 
had  procured  a  charter  from  the  State  of 
Maine  for  a  railroad  from  Maine  to  the 
Pacific  coast,  which  he  called  the  Peoples' 
Railroad.  His  plan  was  that  no  person 
should  have  more  than  one  share  of  stock, 
and  that  it  should  never  be  mortgaged,  a 
purely  visionary  scheme.  Subsequently  his 
friends  induced  him  to  abandon  it,  or  in 
other  words,  apply  to  Congress  for  a  new 
charter  with  more  practical  provisions,  which, 
by  the  assistance  of  Maj.  Isaac  I.  Stevens, 
Colonel  Aldrich  and  Senator  Henry  M.  Rice, 
of  Minnesota,  and  others,  he  procured  un- 
der the  name  of  the  Northern  Pacific.  After 
the  war  was  over  he  made  an  attempt  to 
organize  it  and  carry  it  forward,  but  his  plans 
were  too  impracticable,  and  after  spending 
much  time  and  all  his  means,  as  well  as  some 
of  that  of  his  friends,  having  issued  $600,000 
of  preferred  stock,also,he  became  discouraged 
and  proposed  to  transfer  the  charter  and  fran- 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


21 


chise  to  a  foreign  party.  One  of  his  neigh- 
bors, the  Hon.  R.D.  Rice,  of  Maine,  hearing  of 
this,  called  upon  the  Hon.  J.Gregory  Smith,  of 
Yermont,  and  Benjamin  P.  Cheney ,of  Boston, 
who  knew  of  the  value  of  the  franchise,  and 
they  arranged  with  Mr.  Peril  am,  the  ostensi- 
ble proprietor,  to  transfer  the  whole  enter- 
prise to  them  to  save  it  to  this  country  and 
from  going  into  the  hands  of  the  Grand 
Trunk  Railroad  of  Canada,  which  was 
endeavoring  to  get  control  of  it.  An  active 
man  was  wanted  to  take  charge  of  the  busi- 
ness, to  attend  to  all  the  details,  to  bring  the 
merits  of  the  enterprise  before  Congress  and 
the  country.  Mr.  Can  field,  who  was  well 
known  to  all  these  gentlemen  as  having  given 

CJ  CJ    CJ 

much  attention  to  the  matter  in  former  years, 
with  Mr.  Johnson,  was  appointed  a  director 
and  general  agent  of  the  company,  with 
power  to  take  such  measures  as  he  thought 
necessary  to  get  the  company  into  operation, 
and  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  charter 
in  the  work  of  construction,  under  the  advice 
of  the  directors  from  time  to  time.  After 
the  failure  of  Congress  in  1866  and  1867  to 
grant  aid,  it  was  evident  that  the  temper  of 
that  body  was  hostile  to  further  government 
aid  to  railroads,  which  was  encouraged  by 
those  interested  in  the  Union  and  Central 
Pacific  Railroads,  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the 
building  of  the  northern  and  southern  lines. 
The  directors  of  the  Northern  Pacific  were 
much  discouraged,  and  at  times  were  about 
ready  to  abandon  the  enterprise  and  lose 
what  money  they  had  already  put  in.  But 
the  charter  would  expire  in  two  years.  Mr. 
Canfield,  who  had  been  so  many  years  work- 
ing for  the  enterprise,  would  not  consent  to 
give  it  up  without  one  more  effort  to  save 
it,  knowing  full  well  that  with  the  state 
of  public  sentiment  then  existing,  if  this 
charter  expired,  another  would  never  be 
granted. 

To  secure  an  extension  of  the  charter  and 
give  it   a   more   national   character   than  it 


seemed  to  have  had  before,  in  consequence  of 
most  of  those  identified  with  it  being  from 
New  England,  Mr.  Canfield  conceived  the 
idea  of  a  syndicate  of  gentlemen,  to  be  made 
up  from  those  occupying  prominent  posi- 
tions in  the  leading  railroads  of  the  country. 
He  went  to  St.  Albans  and  laid  the  matter 
before  Governor  Smith,  who  was  then  presi- 
dent of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  who 
concurred  in  it ;  but,  being  too  busy  with 
the  affairs  of  the  Yermont  Central  Railroad 
to  give  much  personal  attention  to  the  plan, 
he  told  Mr.  Canfield  to  go  ahead  and  he 
would  endorse  anything  he  might  do.  Mr. 
Canfield  left  Burlington  for  New  York  on 
the  26th  day  of  December,  1866,  with  a 
heavy  heart,  but  resolved  to  make  a  last 
desperate  effort  to  save  the  magnificent 
enterprise  about  which  he  had  already  spent 
so  many  years  of  his  life.  Mr.  William  B. 
Ogden.  of  Chicago,  with  whom  Mr.  Canfield 
had  long  been  acquainted,  was  the  president 
of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad, 
was  better  informed  upon  the  resources  of 
the  great  Northwest,  and  had  spent  more 
time  in  investigating  them  than  any  other 
man  of  his  time,  and  could  better  appreciate 
the  magnitude  of  the  Northern  Pacific  and 
the  development  of  an  empire  which  must 
follow  its  construction.  Mr.  Canfield  felt 
that  his  first  point  was  to  secure  the  active 
co-operation  of  Mr.  Ogden  and  induce  him 
to  take  hold  of  it,  notwithstanding  he  was 
overwhelmed  with  business. 

It  was  some  days  before  he  could  get  Mr. 
Ogden  to  give  any  attention  to  it;  but 
finally  secured  an  appointment  with  him  to 
spend  a  day  at  his  home  at  Boscobel,  near 
High  Bridge,  twelve  miles  from  New  York, 
and  take  up  the  subject. 

Mr.  Canfield,  early  on  the  day  appointed, 
went  to  Boscobel  with  his  maps,  plans  and 
printed  copies  of  the  charter,  and  commenc- 
ing with  its  provisions  and  discussing  them, 
he  soon  enlisted  the  interest  of  Mr.  Ogden 


22 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


to  such  an  extent  that  they  continued  their 
discussion  from  9  o'clock  in  the  morning 
until  midnight.  Mr.  Canfield's  plan  was  to 
form  a  syndicate  of  twelve  men,  representing 
the  leading  railway,  express  and  transporta- 
tion interests  of  the  country,  and  to  give  to 
each  one-twelfth  of  the  enterprise,  they  pay- 
ing therefor  their  proportion  of  the  original 
cost.  Thus  the  twelve  would  own  the  enter- 
prise, each  subscriber  coming  in  on  the 
"ground  floor."  The  twelve  names  pre- 
sented by  Mr.  Canfield  were  acceptable  to 
Mr.  Ogden. 

During  this  interview  at  Boscobel,  in  con- 
sidering the  various  questions  and  emer- 
gencies which  might  arise  in  the  unknown 
future  before  the  road  should  be  "put 
upon  its  feet,"  and  the  work  of  construc- 
tion commenced,  Mr.  Ogden  said  to  Mr. 
Canfield,  "How  much  money  will  it  require  to 
bring  this  about  ?  how  much  money  will  each 
one  have  to  pay,  and  how  long  will  it  take  ?  " 

Mr.  Canfield  frankly  replied,  "  that  it  was 
a  long  road  to  travel,  that  it  had  bitter  and 
strong  enemies  in  and  out  of  Congress  to 
contend  with,  and  that  you,  Mr.  Ogden,  with 
your  experience,  know  that  it  would  take 
considerable  money  to  make  surveys  and  do 
preliminary  work  upon  so  long  a  route 
across  the  Rocky  mountains,  of  which  each 
one  is  expected  to  furnish  his  proportion 
from  time  to  time." 

"  What  then,"  said  Mr.  Ogden,  "  will  be 
the  chance  of  our  getting  our  money  back  ? " 

"  About  one  in  fifty,"  said  Mr.  Canfield. 

"  A  fine  chance,"  said  Mr.  Ogden  ;  "  and 
upon  what  ground  then,  Mr.  Canfield,  do 
you  ask  us  to  put  up  our  money,  with  so 
little  prospect  of  return?" 

"  Upon  this  ground,  Mr.  Ogden,  which  I 
have  no  doubt  will  commend  itself  to  your 
good  judgment:  This  enterprise  is  one  of 
the  greatest  ever  undertaken  in  the  world  — 
it  is  equal  to  that  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany—  it  is  the  only  continuous  charter 


ever  granted  across  this  continent,  from 
water  to  water,  and  with  the  prevailing 
sentiment,  which  is  increasing  in  this  coun- 
try, of  hostility  to  railroad  grants,  assisted 
by  Government  aid  of  subsidy,  or  even  wild 
lands,  if  this  is  allowed  to  lapse,  another 
will  never  be  granted  ;  it  will  open  up  an 
empire,  now  occupied  by  the  savages,  which 
will  furnish  happy  homes  for  millions  of  the 
poor  of  this  and  other  countries,  and  the 
resources  and  wealth  which  it  will  develop 
will  simply  be  incalculable ;  and  withal  it 
will  be  the  great  highway  for  the  trade  of 
China,  Japan  and  the  East  Indies,  across 
the  continent.  It  is  due  to  the  people  of 
this  country  and  to  this  nation,  that  you, 
gentlemen,  whom  Providence  has  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  great  transportation  inter- 
ests of  the  country,  should  step  in  at  this 
crisis  and  use  your  influence  and  advance 
your  money  to  save  this  magnificent  enter- 
prise from  destruction." 

"And  suppose  I  put  my  money  in  for 
such  a  laudable  purpose,  what  have  you  got 
to  give  me  or  others  who  may  be  associated 
with  us  to  show  for  it?" 

"I  have  nothing  to  give.  I  have  sug- 
gested the  names  of  twelve  men,  including 
ourselves,"  said  Mr.  Canfield,  "  whom  I 
believe  to  be  honorable  men,  and  whose 
word,  once  given,  will  serve  every  purpose." 

"  I  suppose  it  is,  then,"  said  Mr.  Ogden, 
"simply  a  matter  of  honor  between  gentle- 
men." 

"  Exactly." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Canfield,  that  is  high  and  noble 
ground.  The  charter  must  be  saved  and  I 
will  take  hold  with  you.  Meet  me  at  my 
office,  57  Broadway,  to-morrow  morning, 
and  we  will  lay  siege  to  the  directors  of  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railroad,  whose 
influence  we  must  enlist."  So  saying,  Mr. 
Ogden  rang  his  bell  for  his  coachman  and 
directed  him  to  drive  Mr.  Canfield  to  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Hotel. 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


It  was  past  midnight,  and  Mr.  Canfield 
retired  much  lighter-hearted  than  when  he 
left  Vermont,  and  feeling  that  a  good  day's 
work  had  been  done,  and  that  daylight  was 
about  to  dawn  upon  his  favorite  project. 

In  order  that  there  should  be  no  cause  for 
disagreement  in  the  future  and  that  the 
objects  for  which  the  syndicate  was  formed 
should  be  distinctly  understood,  as  up  to  this 
time  Mr.  Canfield  had  made  only  a  rough 
sketch  of  them,  he  telegraphed  to  Vermont 
to  Governor  Smith  to  come  to  New  York,  and 
with  him  spent  most  of  the  10th  day  of 
January,  1867,  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  in 
putting  on  to  paper  in  a  condensed  form  the 
agreement  for  the  twelve  parties  to  sign, 
which  was  really  the  Constitution  upon  which 
was  based  the  future  proceedings  and  which 
was  afterwards  known  in  the  affairs  of  the 
company  as  the  "  Original  Interests  Agree- 
ment." It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when 
they  took  this  document  to  57  Broadway  to 
submit  to  Mr.  Ogden,  which,  after  discussion 
and  explanation,  received  his  hearty  approval 
without  a  single  alteration.  It  was  getting 
dark,  and  as  Mr.  Ogden  had  to  drive 
to  his  home  at  Boscobel.  twelve  miles,  he 
said : 

"AV^ell,  gentlemen,  is  there  anything  else 
to  do  ? " 

"  Yes,  there  is  one  thing  more,"  said  Mr. 
Canfield,  "that  is,  for  you  to  take  the  pen 
and  put  your  name  to  this  paper  for  one  of 
the  one-twelfth  interests." 

"But  it  is  so  dark,"  said  Mr.  Ogden,  "I 
do  not  know  as  I  can  see  to  write,  and  if  I 
do,  as  you  can  read  it." 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Canfield,  "  try  it  and  we 
will  accept  the  signature  for  better  or 
worse."  Mr.  Ogden  then  signed  his  name 
and  they  separated.  As  Governor  Smith 
and  Mr.  Canfield  walked  up  Broadway, 
passing  Trinity  church,  Governor  Smith  said 
he  felt  that  a  critical  turning-point  in  the 
Northern  Pacific  enterprise  had  been  passed 


and  that  that  signature  fixed  the  star  of  the 
Northern  Pacific. 

Mr.  Canfield  and  the  Governor  soon  after 
procured  the  remaining  signatures  to  the 
agreement,  which  composed  the  syndicate, 
as  follows  :  J.  Gregory  Smith,  of  St.  Albans, 
Vermont,  president  of  the  Central  Vermont 
Railroad ;  Richard  D.  Rice,  of  Augusta, 
Maine,  president  of  the  Maine  Central  Rail- 
road ;  Thomas  H.  Canfield,  of  Burlington, 
Vermont;  William  B.  Ogden,  of  Chicago, 
Illinois,  president  of  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western Railroad ;  Robert  H.  Berdell,  of 
New  York,  president  of  the  Erie  Railroad; 
Danforth  N.  Barney,  of  New  York,  president 
of  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.,  Express  Company ; 
Ashbel  H.  Barney,  New  York,  president  of 
United  States  Express  Company  ;  Benjamin 
P.  Cheney,  of  Boston,  president  of  United 
States  &  Canada  Express  Company ;  Will- 
iam G.  Fargo,  of  Buffalo,  New  York,  vice- 
president  of  New  York  Central  Railroad 
and  president  of  the  American  Express  Com- 
pany; George  W.  Cass,  of  Pittsburgh,  Penn- 
sylvania, president  Pittsburgh,  Fort  Wayne 
&  Chicago  Railroad;  J.  Edgar  Thompson,  of 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  president  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  ;  and  Edward  Reilley,  of  Lan- 
caster, Pennsylvania.  At  a  later  day  a 
division  of  some  of  these  interests  was  made 
by  which  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.,  Charles  B. 
Wright,  Thomas  A.  Scott,  of  Philadelphia; 
Frederick  Billings,  of  Woodstock,  Vermont, 
and  William  Windom  and  William  S.  King, 
of  Minnesota,  became  actively  interested, 
the  two  latter  gentlemen  being  the  only  men 
from  Minnesota,  except  Governor  Ramsey 
and  Mr.  Donnelly,  who  manifested  at  that 
day  any  great  interest  in  the  undertaking, 
and  the  only  men  from  that  State  who  ad- 
vanced any  money  to  help  along  the  enter- 
prise. Strange  does  it  seem  that  the  citizens 
of  a  State  which  it  was  evident  then  must 
receive,  and  since  has  received,  so  much 
benefit  from  this  railroad,  should  not  have 


THOMAS  //.  CAN  FIELD. 


taken  more  interest  in  promoting  it,  when  it 
needed  the  most  assistance  in  its  dark  days, 
and  when  men  from  the  East  who  had  not 
a  dollar  of  property  in  Minnesota  were  de- 
voting their  time  and  money  to  organize  and 
put  into  operation  this  magnificent  under- 
taking. 

And  at  this  day  it  seems  hardly  possible  to 
believe  that  all  the  delegation  in  Congress 

o  o 

from  Illinois  except  General  Logan  and  Nor- 
man B.  Judd ;  from  Indiana  except  Gov- 
ernor Morton,  Daniel  Voorhees  and  M.  C. 
Morton  ;  from  Ohio  except  Senator  Sherman 
and  two  or  three  others,  should  have  opposed 
it  in  Congress,  and  that  such  men  as  E.  B. 
Washburn,  John  Went  worth  and  Columbus 
Delano  should  fight  it  bitterly  on  the  floor 
for  many  days,  and  finally  defeated  any 
aid  of  any  kind,  either  in  subsidy  of  bonds 
or  guarantee  of  interest. 

Six  of  the  former  directors  resigned,  and 
Messrs.  Ogden,  Cass,  Thompson,  Berdell, 
Fargo  and  Canfield  were  elected  in  their 
places. 

SURVEYS  AND  EXPLORATIONS. 

The  new  board  found  it  necessary,  in  order 
to  satisfy  the  numerous  inquiries  made  in 
Congress  as  to  the  practicability  of  the  route, 
and  in  order  to  fix  a  definite  location,  to 
institute  surveys  from  Lake  Superior  going 
west  and  from  Puget  Sound  coming  east. 
In  order  to  do  this  Edwin  F.  Johnson  was 
chosen  chief  engineer,  and  Thomas  H.  Can- 
field  general  manager  to  collect  funds,  make 
disbursements  and  attend  generally  to  the 
business  of  the  company.  Thus  the  two 
men  who,  in  1852,  so  often  laid  plans  for  a 
Pacific  railroad  in  the  "  stone  store  "  at  Bur- 
lington, Vermont,  were,  after  fifteen  years, 
brought  together  again  as  the  active  men  in 
starting  forward  and  taking  charge  of  this 
great  enterprise. 

Gen.  Ira  Spaulding  was  detailed  as  assist- 
ant engineer  of  the  Minnesota  division,  with 


instructions  to  run  a  line  from  Bayfield,  Wis- 
consin, to   St.  Cloud,  Minnesota,  thence  via 
Sank  Centre  and  Alexandria,  keeping  south 
of  the  Leaf  Hills,  to  some  point  on  the  Red 
River  near  Georgetown  ;    and  another  line 
from  Superior,  Wisconsin,  in  charge  of  M.  C. 
Kimberly   (now    assistant   manager   of  the 
road),  via  French  Rapids  (now  near  Brain- 
erd),  Leaf  River  and  Detroit  Lake,  to  inter- 
cept the  other  line,  which  was  done,  making 
the  point  of  intersection  on  the  south  branch 
of  the  Buffalo  river,  about  two  miles  west  of 
Glyndon.     At  that  time  it  was  the  expecta- 
tion that  the   road  would  run  north  of   the 
Missouri  river,  via  Devil's  Lake.  Fort  Ben- 
ton  and  Cadott's  Pass,  to  Missoula,  although 
the  route   via  the  Yellowstone   was   under 
consideration,      and     which      was     finally 
adopted,  crossing  the   Rock}7  mountains   at 
Mullan  Pass  to  Missoula.    The  point  of  diver- 
gence of  the  Yellowstone   route  from  the 
upper  Missouri  route  was  at  the  west  end  of 
the  cut,  two  miles   east  of  Audubon.     Gen. 
James   Tilton,   of   Delaware,   who  was  the 
Government    engineer   appointed   by    Pres- 
ident   Pierce    to  establish     the   Willamette 
meridian  and  to   survey  the   original  town- 
ships in  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory, 
was  employed  on  account  of  his  familiarity 
with  that  country  to  examine   the   Cascade 
mountains,  which  presented  the  most  formid- 
able barrier  to  the   passage   of   a   railroad. 
His  examination  determined  the  existence  of 
at  least  three  or  four  practicable  passes  in  the 
Cascade  range,  viz. :  Packwoods  or  the  Cow- 
litz,  south  of  Mount   Tacoma,  leading   from 
the  Cowlitz  river  on  the  west  to  the  Atah- 
nam  branch  of  the  Yakima  river  on  the  east ; 
another,   the    Snoqualmie    pass,    north     of 
Mount  Tacoma  to   Lake   Kitchelas,  a  trib- 
utary of  the  Yakima  ;   and  Cady's  pass,  still 
farther  north,   between   the  waters  of   the 
We-nach-ee    and    Skykomish.       Since   that 
time    a    fourth    one    has    been    discovered 
between  the  Snoqualmie  and  Mount  Tacoma, 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


the  Stampede  pass,  through  which  the  rail- 
road no\v  runs. 

As  there  were  hardly  any  settlements  or 
roads  then  through  the  country  where  these 
lines  passed,  and  the  only  way  to  reach  the 
Pacific  coast  being  by  Panama  and  the  Isth- 
mus, consequently,  so  soon  after  the  war 
closed,  when  gold  was  175  to  200,  the  expenses 
of  all  preliminary  surveys  or  work  over  a 
country  of  thousands  of  miles,  so  inaccessible 
for  ordinary  transportation,  many  of  thesup- 
plies  having  to  be  carried  in  upon  the  backs 
of  horses  and  in  some  cases  by  Indians, 
became  very  great,  and  at  times  it  seemed 
almost  impossible  to  carry  on  the  work  at 
all.  At  the  same  time,  while  these  surveys 
and  other  explorations  were  being  made,  its 
enemies  were  at  work  with  Congress  to  pre- 
vent an  extension  of  its  charter,  destroy  its 
land  grant,  and  defeat  a  money  subsidy,  such 
as  had  been  given  to  the  Union  Pacific. 
To  accomplish  this,  strong  inducements  were 
offered  by  powerful  parties  for  a  surrender 
of  the  west  end  of  the  line  from  Montana  to 
Puget  Sound  to  competing  routes,  coupled 
with  the  assurance  that  with  such  surrender 
their  assistance  would  be  given  to  secure  a 
subsidy  for  the  whole  line,  but  without  such 
surrender  they  would  defeat  it.  Tempting 
as  such  a  proposition  was  financially,  in  the 
straitened  circumstances  of  the  company,  yet 
it  was  spurned  with  contempt  by  the  officers, 
and  Mr.  Canfield  gave  the  party  making  it  to 
understand,  that  it  was  the  only  continuous 
charter  that  ever  was  or  probably  ever  would 
be  granted  across  the  continent,  and  that 
under  no  circumstances  or  emergency,  how- 
ever pressing,  would  the  promoters  submit  to 
its  dismemberment,  subsidy  or  no  subsidy, 
and  that  the  railroad  would  be  built  as  a 
continuous,  unbroken,  transcontinental  line, 
under  its  charter,  intact  and  unimpaired, 
from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  result  has  been  that  the  promise  of 
the  party  was  fulfilled,  and  the  subsidy  was 


defeated;  while  that  of  Mr.  Canfield  has  also 
been  fulfilled,  and  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road has  been  built  from  Lake  Superior  to 
Puget  Sound  with  its  charter  unimpaired. 
Too  much  credit  can  not  be  given  to  the  pro- 
moters for  taking  their  strong  stand  against 
dismemberment  in  those  stormy  days. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  difficulties,  in 
addition  to  numerous  others  which  the  lim- 
its of  this  article  will  not  permit  to  be  men- 
tioned, the  subscribers  to  the  syndicate  con- 
tinued cheerfully  to  make  advances  for  the 
cost  of  surveys  and  other  expenses  of  the 
company  until  they  had  furnished  about  a 
quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars  from  their 
own  private  pockets,,  and  until  the  company 
was  fairly  under  way  by  the  financial  arrange- 
ment with  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.,  Mr.  Canfield  in 
the  meantime  receiving  all  the  moneys, 
making  the  disbursements,  keeping  the 
accounts  until  they  were  turned  over  to  the 
new  organization,  arising  from  the  arrange- 
ment with  Messrs.  Cooke  &  Co.,  and  the 
original  twelve  parties  to  the  syndicate 
relieved  from  their  personal  obligations. 
During  the  whole  of  this  time  not  a  member 
of  the  syndicate  hesitated  for  a  moment 
when  called  upon  for  his  proportion,  nor 
entertained  a  doubt  as  to  the  ultimate  results 
of  the  undertaking. 

To  those  of  the  present  day  who  pass  over 
this  beautiful,  diversified  country  of  2,000 
miles,  from  Lake  Superior  to  Puget  Sound, 
at  the  rate  of  forty  miles  per  hour,  in  the 
elegant  palace  cars  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad  Company,  through  flourishing 
villages  and  cities,  amid  the  golden  wheat 
fields  of  Minnesota  and  Dakota,  the  rich 
mines,  and  flocks  and  "herds  upon  a 
thousand  hills  "  in  Montana  and  Idaho,  and 
the  magnificent  forests  of  Washington  Terri- 
tory, it  is  impossible  by  any  language  to  con- 
vey to  them  an  idea  of  the  innumerable 
trials,  the  almost  insuperable  difficulties  and 
insurmountable  obstacles  which  surrounded 


26 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


this  enterprise  for  two  or  three  years,  even 
before  a  bar  of  iron  was  laid,  not  to  mention 
those  which  the  panic  of  1873  entailed  upon 
it.  But  for  the  advances,  courage,  faith  and 
influence  of  these  twelve  men,  there  would 
have  been  no  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  to- 
day. Those  were  the  dark  days  of  the  enter- 
prise, when  it  required  faith  and  courage, 
when  the  project  was  ridiculed  as  impossible, 
and  its  advocates  as  crazy  and  visionary  ;  and 
in  view  of  the  ignorance  which  then  pervaded 
the  whole  country  as  to  the  climate,  resources 
and  practicability  of  this  route  to  the  Paci tic, 
and  the  consequent  obloquy  and  ridicule 
which  was  poured  out  upon  those  who  had 
undertaken  it,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  at  least 
as  much  credit  is  due  to  those  twelve  men 
who,  amid  good  and  evil  report,  stood  up 
with  their  brains  and  money  and  carried  it 
through,  as  to  those  in  later  days,  who,  after 
its  practicability  had  been  demonstrated, 
confidence  created,  money  raised  and  success 
assured,  have  been  instrumental  in  its  final 
completion. 

Mr.  Can  field  spent  much  time  in  Wash- 
ington at  different  times  to  secure  the  neces- 
sary legislation  for  extending  the  charter  of 
the  company,  procuring  the  right  to  mort- 
gage, and  the  right  to  build  from  Portland  to 
Puget  Sound  as  well  us  resisting  the  repeated 
attacks  upon  the  land  grant.  Inasmuch  as  sec- 
tion 10  of  the  original  charter  prohibited  the 
company  from  making  any  mortgage  or  issu- 
ing any  bonds,  without  which  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  construct  such  a  road,  Mr.  Canfield 
went  in  the  winter  of  1868-69  to  Washington, 
and  by  the  assistance  of  Senator  Edmunds,  of 
Vermont,  and  others,  got  an  amendment  to 
the  charter  passed,  authorizing  the  company 
to  issue  bonds  and  secure  the  same  by  mort- 
gage, for  the  purpose  of  raising  funds  to 
build  the  railroad.  At  the  extra  session  of 
Congress  called  by  President  Grant  in 
March,  1869,  for  one  month,  he  also  got 
through  an  act  extending  the  branch  line 


from  Portland  to  Puget  Sound,  upon  which 
was  the  first  iron  laid  by  the  company,  which 
has  proved  to  be  an  important  link  in  its 
chain,  connecting,  as  it  does,  Oregon  and 
Washington  Territory. 

THE  CHARTER  ALMOST  LOST  TWICE. 

But  for  Mr.  Canfield's  vigilance  the  com- 
pany would  have  lost  its  charter  in  1866,  and 
again  in  1868.  The  jealousy  of  the  Union 
Pacific,  which  by  the  aid  of  the  Government 
subsidy  had  been  constructed,  as  well  as  that 
of  the  Southern  Pacific,  developed  a  strong 
indication  that  it  would  require  considerable 
work  at  Washington  to  save  the  life  of  the 
infant  Northern  Pacific.  They  would  not 
consent  to  an  extension  of  over  two  years, 
while  it  should  have  been  ten  years  for  such 
an  enterprise.  Upon  the  first  opportunity, 
which  soon  came  up,  Col.  Thomas  A.  Scott, 
an  old  friend,  who  was  interested  in  the 
Southern  Pacific,  had  gotten  his  bill  reported 
by  the  railroad  committee,  and  all  ready  to 
bring  up  in  the  House  for  an  extension  of 
his  charter  on  the  next  Monday  morning,  as 
soon  as  the  House  should  be  called  to  order, 
before  many  of  the  members  should  get 
there,  except  his  own  friends,  who  under- 
stood what  was  to  be  done. 

Mr.  Canfield  went  to  him  and  wanted  him 
to  allow  a  short  section  to  be  added  to  his  bill, 
extending  the  time  of  the  Northern  Pacific. 
He  would  not  consent,  but  said,  '•  Pass  mine 
first  and  then  I  will  have  my  friends  take 
hold  and  pass  yours."  While  friends  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  would  and  did  vote  for  his, 
they  could  not  rely  upon  his  Southern  men 
to  go  for  a  Northern  route — and  dared  not 
try  the  experiment.  After  Congress  ad- 
journed on  Saturday,  Mr.  Canfield  went 
over  to  Mr.  Stevens,  better  known  in  those 
days  as  "Uncle  Thad  "  (who,  by  the  way, 
with  Senator  Jacob  Howard,  of  Michigan, 

/  j-  a          j 

the  chairman  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  com- 
mittee in  the  Senate,  known  as  "  Honest 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


Jake,"  were  both  natives  of  Vermont,  the 
former  from  Peacham,  in  Caledonia  county, 
and  the  latter  from  Shaftsbury,  Bennington 
county,  and  were  both  warm  friends  of  the 
Northern  Pacific),  and  told  him  his  interview 
with  Colonel  Scott.  "Ha!  ha!"  said  he, 
"  don't  be  troubled,  I  will  take  care  of 
Thomas  A.  You  see  Speaker  Colfax  and 
tell  him  I  Avant  to  be  recognized  Monday 
morning  when  Thomas'  bill  is  called  up." 

Monday  morning  came.  As  soon  as  the 
speaker's  gavel  fell,  Scott's  man  called  up  his 
bill  and  at  once  the  shrill  voice  of  "  Uncle 
Thad"  was  heard,  "Mr.  Speaker,  I  offer  the 
following  amendment,  which  the  clerk  will 
please  read — 'and  be  it  further  resolved, 
that  the  time  for  commencing  and  completing 
the  Northern  Pacific  railroad  and  all  its  sev- 
eral sections  is  extended  for  the  term  of  two 
years.' ': 

No  one  dared  oppose  Uncle  Thad. 

"Those  in  favor  of  the  amendment,"  said 
the  speaker,  "will  say  aye,  and  those  opposed, 
no ;  the  ayes  have  it,  and  the  amendment  is 
adopted.  Those  in  favor  of  the  bill  as 
amended  will  say  aye;  opposed  will  say  no; 
the  bill  is  passed."  There  was  not  an  oppo- 
sition vote,  and  all  was  done  quicker  than  this 
is  written.  Thus  the  child's  life  was  pro- 
longed two  years,  until  July  2,  1868.  Had 
it  not  been  for  this  maneuvering  and  watch- 
fulness, it  is  most  likely  the  charter  would 
have  expired,  as  it  was  impossible  in  the 
state  of  feeling  then  existing  to  have  got 
enough  Southern  members  with  the  friends 
of  the  Northern  Pacific  to  have  passed  it. 

At  this  time,  also,  a  bill  was  before  Con- 
gress asking  the  guarantee  of  interest  on  the 
bonds  of  the  company,  as  it  had  become 
satisfied  that  it  was  useless  to  attempt  to  get 
a  subsidy,  as  the  Union  Pacific  had  done. 
To  show  the  great  benefits  to  the  nation,  Mr. 
Canfield  conferred  with  General  Grant, 
General  Meigs,  quartermaster-general,  Gen- 
eral Ingalls  and  other  officers  of  the  army, 


who  had  been  stationed  many  years 
on  the  Northwestern  coast,  and  procured 
their  views  with  respect  to  the  Northern 
Pacific,  all  of  whom,  in  every  aspect  of  the 
case,  deemed  it  a  matter  of  great  import- 
ance to  the  nation.  General  Meigs,  in  his 
communication,  says:  "The  construction  of 
the  road  will  make  the  now  wild  and  waste 
regions  through  which  it  is  to  pass  centers 
of  national  wealth  and  production  and  mili- 
tary strength,  and  from  the  mountains 
themselves  a  hardy  population  will  pour 
down  upon  the  coast,  at  every  hostile  demon- 
stration. A  guarantee  of  a  fixed  rate  of 
interest  upon  the  cost  of  construction  is  a 
mode  of  assistance  to  their  great  enterprises, 
now  common  in  the  heavily  taxed  countries 
of  Europe.  If  those  governments,  burdened 
with  the  immense  annual  expenditure  of 
standing  armies,  almost  as  large  in  times  of 
peace  as  we  have  been  compelled  to  support 
in  time  of  war,  find  it  in  the  interest  of  their 
revenues  thus  to  aid  free  travel  and  trans- 
port through  countries  already  provided 
with  navigable  rivers  and  excellent  wagon 
roads,  we  may  confidently  assume  that  our 
country  will  find  ample  reward  for  any  such 
expenditure  in  opening  up  a  highway  for 
fraternal  intercourse  between  our  older  com- 
munities on  the  Atlantic  and  the  rising 
settlements  on  the  Pacific  coast;  a  highway 
to  which  the  inevitable  laws  of  commerce 
will  attract  the  trade  of  the  East.  The 
trade  of  China,  Japan  and  India,  a  trade 
along  whose  slow  and  painful  track,  when  it 
was  conducted  by  beasts  of  burden  and  by 
oars  and  sails  instead  of  the  iron  horse  and 
ocean  steamship,  great  cities  sprung  up  in 
the  desert  sands  of  Asia  and  on  the  coast  of 
the  Mediterranean,  Babylon,  Nineveh,  Pal- 
myra, Bagdad,  Damascus,  Constantinople, 
Alexandria,  Rome,  Venice,  Geneva  and 
London,  the  outgrowths  of  this  trade  in  for- 
mer centuries.  The  lines  of  Pacific  railway 
will  found  such  cities  in  the  new,  healthful 


28 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


and  inviting  regions  through  which  its  east- 
ern flow  is  destined  to  enrich  the  world  ; 
and  Oregon  as  well  as  California,  Montana 
as  well  as  Utah,  will  hereafter  have  their 
San  Franciscos,  Chicagos,  St.  Louises,  Cin- 
cinnatis,  great  emporia  of  an  internal  com- 
merce heretofore  unknown,  as  well  as  the 
world-encircling  commerce  of  the  Indies." 

General  Grant  sent  the  following : 

Headquarters  Armies  of  the  United  States,  ) 
April  SO,  1866.      f 

The  construction  of  a  railroad  by  the  proposed 
route  would  be  of  very  great  advantage  to  the  Govern- 
ment pecuniarily  by  saving  us  the  cost  of  transportation 
to  supply  troops  whose  presence  in  the  country  through 
which  it  is  proposed  to  pass  is  made  necessary  by  the 
great  amount  of  emigration  to  the  gold-bearing  regions 
of  the  Rocky  mountains.  In  my  opinion,  too,  the 
United  States  would  receive  an  additional  pecuniary 
benefit  in  the  construction  of  this  road  by  the  settle- 
ment it  would  induce  along  the  line  of  the  road,  and 
consequently  the  less  number  of  troops  necessary  to 
secure  order  and  safety.  How  far  these  benefits  should 
be  compensated  by  the  General  Government  beyond  the 
grant  of  lands  already  awarded  by  Congress,  I  would 
not  pretend  to  say.  I  would  merely  give  it  as  my 
opinion  that  the  enterprise  of  constructing  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad  is  one  well  worth  fostering  by  the 
General  Government,  and  that  such  aid  could  well  be 
afforded  as  would  insure  the  early  v prosecution  of  the 
work.  U.  S.  GRANT, 

Lieutenant-General. 

But  two  years  soon  passed  away,  and 
meanwhile  the  Northern  Pacific  began  to 
attract  considerable  attention,  as  well  as  to 
increase  the  hostility  of  the  Union  and 
Southern  Pacific  towards  it.  But  after 
about  four  months'  hard  work  another  bill 
was  passed  by  the  House  and  concurred 
in  by  the  Senate  on  the  28th  day  of  June, 
while  the  charter  expired  on  the  2d  day  of 
July.  The  bill  had  been  returned  from  the 
Senate,  reported  to  the  House,  engrossed  and 
passed  over  to  the  committee  on  enrolled 
bills,  of  which  Mr.  Holman  was  chairman, 
to  be  taken  to  the  President  for  his  signature. 
Mr.  Can  field,  finding  the  bill  did  not  reach 
the  "White  House  as  it  should,  and  as  there 


was  but  a  day  or  two  left,  became  very  nerv- 
ous and  uneasy,  as  well  as  unable  to  find  Mr. 
Holman,  who  had  taken  charge  of  the  bill. 
In  this  emergency  he  consulted  with  Messrs, 
Windom  and  Woodbridge,  members  of  the 
House,  and  they  went  to  the  speaker,  Mr. 
Colfax,  who  ordered  the  desk  of  Mr.  Hol- 
man to  be  opened,  and  there  found  the  bill, 
and  gave  it  to  another  member  of  the  com- 
mittee to  take  to  the  "White  House.  It  is 
supposed  Mr.  Holman  was  sick  somewhere 
and  had  forgotten  about  it.  But  for  this 
watchfulness  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Canfield, 
the  Northern  Pacific  charter  might  have 
slept  the  sleep  of  death  in  the  desk  of  its 
worst  enemy  in  the  House.  It  was  signed 
by  the  President  July  1st,  only  one  day  be- 
fore the  charter  expired. 

To  most  people  it  would  seem  tjiat  an 
enterprise  which  was  to  confer  so  much 
benefit  upon  mankind — which  was  really  to 
dispense  with  the  necessity  of  an  army  to 
keep  the  Indian  tribes  in  subjection — which 
was  to  open  up  the  millions  of  acres  of  wild 
lands  of  the  Government,  furnishing  a  mar- 
ket for  them,  which  were  heretofore  worth- 
less, to  industrious  and  hardy  settlers  and 
thereby  increase  the  wealth  of  the  nation,, 
would  receive  attention  from  Congress  and 
an  act  to  facilitate  its  operation  be  passed 
without  delay.  But  such  is  not  the  case. 
Opposition  arises  in  unexpected  quarters; 
secret  combinations  are  formed;  jealousies  and 
sectional  interests  turn  up  which  ought  not 
to  have  any  bearing  upon  such  an  important 
subject,  all  of  which  would  require  close 
attention  in  order  to  carry  through  legisla- 
tion of  even  meritorious  character.  Truly 
the  ways  of  Congress  "  are  past  finding  out," 
especially  to  the  uninitiated. 

FINANCIAL  ARRANGEMENT  WITH  JAY  COOKE  &  CO. 

Mr.  Can  field  was  one  of  the  committee, 
consisting  of  Messrs.  Smith,  Ogden  and  Rice, 
who  went  to  Ogontz,  Mr.  Cooke's  country 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


29 


residence,  near  Philadelphia,  in  May,  1869, 
to  make  the  arrangement  with  Jay  Cooke & 
Co.  to  negotiate  the  bonds  of  the  Northern. 
Pacific  Railroad.  After  spending  a  day  or 
two  and  finally  agreeing  to  the  terms  of  the 
arrangement,  just  as  the  committee  were 
leaving,  supposing  all  things  were  done,  Mr. 
Cooke  proposed  a  condition,  as  a  postscript 
to  the  agreement,  that  the  agreement  should 
not  be  binding  upon  him,  unless  by  a  per- 
sonal examination  by  himself  or  his  agents,  of 
the  whole  line,  it  should  be  shown  to  be  equal 
to  all  the  representations  as  to  resources  and 
practicability  which  the  directors  had  made. 
This  Mr.  Cooke  insisted  upon,  even  if  it 
should  take  a  year  to  do  it. 

Mr.  Canfield  was  very  much  annoyed  by 
this  unexpected  demand  of  Mr.  Cooke,  fear- 
ing that  it  would  so  delay  the  commencement 
of  construction,  which  had  already  been 
made  the  basis  of  objections  before  Con- 
gress to  any  further  extension  of  charter, 
and  he  remonstrated  with  Mr.  Cooke,  ex- 
plaining to  him  the  dangers  of  further 
delay. 

Mr.  Cooke  replied, ''  that  so  far  as  he  was 
concerned,  he  was  entirely  satisfied  with  all 

«/ 

the  directors  had  represented  about  the 
practicability  of  the  line,  the  wonderful 
resources  of  the  country  through  which  it  was 
to  pass  and  the  great  benefit  to  the  nation, 
but  that  he  had  to  engage  bankers  all 
over  this  country  and  Europe  to  assist  him 
in  placing  the  bonds,  that  capital  was  timid, 
that  thousands  of  questions  would  arise 
which  we  could  not  anticipate,  and  that  to 
answer  them  satisfactorily  it  was  necessary 
he  should  be  able  to  say  that  his  own  experts 
had  examined  the  whole  country,  and  that 
his  information  was  based  upon  their  exam- 
inations and  not  upon  the  reports  of  any 
one  identified  with  the  road,  and  that  in  the 
long  run  it  would  be  seen'  his  condition 
would  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  enterprise." 
Mr.  Ogden,  perceiving  that  Mr.  Canfield  was 


annoyed,  called  him  one  side  and  said :  "  I 
think  you  are  a  little  vexed  with  Mr.  Cooke." 

"  Yes,  I  confess,"  said  Mr.  Canfield,  "I  am  a 
little  mad,  after  we  have  spent  so  much  time 
to  make  an  agreement,  now  not  only  to  have 
it  upset,  but  to  have  all  our  plans  endangered 
before  Congress." 

"  But,r  said  Mr.  Ogden,  "  I  have  been  two 
years  endeavoring  to  negotiate  a  loan  for  the 
Northwestern  Railroad  of  only  $4,000,000 
secured  upon  a  road  of  1,000  miles,  now  in 
operation  through  a  rich  and  prosperous 
country,  while  this  man  proposes  to  nego- 
tiate $100,000,000  upon  a  line  through  an 
unknown  country  and  not  a  bar  of  iron  laid 
yet.  You  must  remember  no  negotia- 
tion of  such  a  magnitude  has  ever  been 
undertaken  in  the  history  of  the  world  under 
such  circumstances,  and  while  he  may  not  be 
able  or  live  to  entirely  complete  it,  yet  if 
he  only  negotiates  part  of  it,  it  will  put  us 
on  our  feet  and  ultimately  secure  the  con- 

a/ 

struction  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad, 
and  we  can  not  afford  now  to  break  up  our 
contract  with  him." 

k'Well,"  said  Mr.  Canfield,  "I  appreciate 
as  fully  as  you  do  the  force  of  your 
argument,  as  well  as  the  importance  Mr. 
Cooke  attaches  to  this  proposed  exploration 
which  will  delay  us  six  months  more,  but  I 
accede  to  it,  and  no\v  let  us  get  about  it  at 
once  and  be  done  with  it  before  Congress 
meets  in  December." 

The  wisdom  of  Mr.  Ogden's  theory  has 
been  demonstrated  since  in  the  raising  of 
money  to  build  the  road. 

One  can  well  imagine  whyaman  of  action 
like  Mr.  Canfield  should  have  been  annoyed 
at  a  delay  of  six  months  more  in  the  work, 
after  he  had  been  for  years  struggling  with 
opposition,  rebuff  and  difficulties  of  all  kinds, 
in  order  to  reach  a  point,  where,  at  least,  he 
had  hoped  to  show  to  the  world  by  actual 
work  of  construction  that  the  Northern 
Pacific  was  something  besides  a  railroad  on 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


paper.  Mr.  Canfield  was  selected  by  the 
directors  to  take  charge  of  Mr.  Cooke's  party, 
consisting  of  W.  Milnor  Roberts,  engineer; 
Samuel  Wilkeson,  since  Secretary  of  the 
Company,  William  G.  Moorehead,  Jr.,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Claxton,  and  William  Johnson,  a 
son  of  the  chief  engineer,  which  was  to  meet 
him  at  Salt  Lake  City  on  the  14th  of  June, 
1869. 

EXPLORATION  FOR  THE  LINE  IN  WASHINGTON  AND 
MONTANA  TERRITORIES. 

From  there  they  went  by  the  Central 
Pacific  Railroad  to  Sacramento  and  Marys- 
ville,  and  then  by  stage  through  Northern 
California  and  Oregon,  700  miles,  to  Portland, 
Oregon,  arriving  there  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1869.  From  there  the}7  went  to  Puget  Sound 
— most  of  the  way  by  stage — procured  a 
small  steamer,  making  a  thorough  examina- 
tion of  all  the  bays,  towns  and  harbors,  and, 
returning  to  Portland,  they  went  by  steamer 
up  the  Columbia  river  to  Walla  Walla,  which 
was  about  the  end  of  all  settlements,  and 
where  for  some  years  had  been  a  Govern- 
ment military  post.  They  were  now  about 
to  enter  upon  an  unknown  country,  where 
there  were  only  scattering  settlers  for  a  short 
distance ;  no  roads,  no  bridges  nor  any  means 
of  subsistence.  When  on  Puget  Sound  an 
amusing  incident  occurred.  George  Francis 
Train,  who  was  at  Portland  to  deliver  the 
Fourth  of  July  oration,  accompanied  the 
party  to  the  Sound,  and  when  at  Whatcom, 
on  Bellingham  Bay,  he  telegraphed  to  the 
mayor  of  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  that  he 
would  be  there  the  next  day  to  deliver  a  lec- 
ture, subject,  "The  downfall  of  England!  get 
out  your  guns ! "  The  steamer  with  the  party 
arrived  at  Victoria  about  3  o'clock  the  next 
morning  and  anchored.  When  daylight  came 
a  man-of-war  lay  off-side  a  few  rods  with  her 
"  guns  out  "  and  shotted,  ready  for  action. 
The  party  were  not  allowed  to  land,  and 
it  was  with  much  difficulty  Mr.  Canfield, 


with  the  aid  of  the  American  consul, 
persuaded  the  officials  of  Victoria  that 
Mr.  Train  was  a  harmless  man,  and  that 
his  message  was  intended  as  a  joke.  But 
poor  Train  had  insulted  Johnny  Bull  and 
was  not  permitted  to  go  ashore  after  all. 

A  HORSEBACK  EXPEDITION  ACROSS  THE 
MOUNTAINS. 

At  Walla  Walla  Mr.  Canfield  fitted  out  a 
horseback  expedition,  consisting  of  thirteen 
saddle  and  pack-horses,  and  as  there  were  no 
settlements  of  any  consequence  beyond 
Walla  Walla,  was  obliged  to  take  provisions 
and  cooking  utensils  upon  the  backs  of  his 
horses,  sufficient  to  last  the  party  thirty 
days,  which  it  was  estimated  would  bring 
them  to  Helena,  Montana,  500  miles.  Their 
supplies  were  confined  to  tea,  coffee,  ham, 
flour,  butter,  a  few  canned  goods,  the  long 
distance  preventing  the  transportation  of 
vegetables  or  other  kinds  of  meat.  Every- 
thing had  to  be  in  the  most  condensed 
form.  They  left  Walla  Walla  on  the  20th  of 
July,  1869,  with  the  thermometer  110  degrees 
above  zero,  making  about  twenty  miles  a 
day,  lying  upon  the  ground  at  night  without 
any  tent  to  cover  them.  They  went  from 
Walla  Walla  to  Kentuck's  Crossing  on  the 
Snake  river;  thence  to  Hangman's  creek, 
Schnebley's  bridge,near  where  Spokane  Falls 
now  is — then  but  one  log  cabin.  From  there 
to  Pend  d'Oreille  Lake.  Here  they  found  a 
small  steamer,  "  Mary  Moody,"  which  had 
been  used  in  former  mining  days,  but 
now  dismantled.  To  save  a  journey  of 
several  days  around  the  lake,  they  put 
the  engine  together  and  took  their  horses 
across  the  lake  on  the  steamer  to  the 
foot  of  Cabinet  Rapids.  Here  they  disem- 
barked, and,  following  Clark's  fork  of  the 
Columbia  river,  crossing  many  of  the 
mountain  ranges  at  an  altitude  of  several 
thousand  feet  to  Thompson's  Falls,  Horse 
Plains,  along  the  Flathead  and  Jocko  rivers, 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


through  the  Coriacen  Defile  to  Missoula, 
thence  along  the  Blackfoot  to  Gold  creek  ; 
no\v  near  Garrison's,  where  they  made  a 
detour  through  the  Deer  Lodge  valley  to 
examine  the  Deer  Lodge  pass.  They  went 
over  to  the  Wisdom  river,  one  of  the  trib- 
utaries of  the  Jefferson,  by  very  easy  grade, 
and  which  they  found  to  be  the  easiest  pass 
in  the  mountains,  and  which  Mr.  Canfield 
advised  as  the  true  route  for  the  road  to  take, 
following,  after  crossing  the  mountains,  the 
waters  of  the  Jefferson  to  Gallatin  valley, 
and  which  he  still  believes  will  be  the  route 
sooner  or  later  adopted  for  the  through  busi- 
ness ;  although  in  order  to  reach  Helena,  the 
capital  of  Montana,  the  road  has  been  built 
through  the  Mullan  pass.  There  were  but 
two  or  three  miners'  shanties  then  at  Silver 
Bow,  and  the  city  of  Butte,  now  with  20,000 
people,  then  "  was  not. "  Returning  to  Gold 
creek,  the  first  place  gold  was  discovered  in 
Montana,  they  crossed  the  Rocky  mountains 
to  Helena  at  Mullan's  pass,  where  the  rail- 
road tunnel  now  is.  Here  they  disbanded 
their  horses  and  took  stages  to  Fort  Ben- 
ton,  examining  Cadotte's  pass  on  their 
return,  which  was  the  pass  Governor  Stevens 
and  his  expedition  crossed  in  1854. 

AN  INDIAN  OUTBREAK. 

Here  they  met  an  Indian  outbreak,  in 
which  Malcolm  Clark,  a  graduate  of  West 
Point  and  for  many  years  a  Government 
agent,  met  his  death,  which  threatened  much 
danger,  their  horses  being  stolen  from  them 
by  the  Indians  at  Dearborn  river.  Soon 
after  leaving  Helena,  Mr.  Canfield  received 
a  message  from  Cadotte,  then  at  Fort  Ben- 
ton,  that  "  North  Star,"  a  celebrated  chief 
with  a  band  of  50  warriors  was  on  his  way 
South  and  would  be  at  Dearborn  river  on 
the  next  day  and  that  he  had  better  look  out 
for  him,  and  it  was  probably  his  band  which 
stole  his  horses.  It  was  a  critical  time,  as 
General  De  Trobriand,  who  was  in  command 


at  Fort  Shaw,  some  thirty  miles  beyond, 
where  they  arrived  at  eight  o'clock  that 
evening,  refused  to  give  them  any  assistance. 
It  was  very  important  that  Cadotte  pass 
should  be  examined,  inasmuch  as  it  would 
probably  be  the  place  of  crossing  the  main 
range  of  the  Rockies,  if  the  road  went  north 
of  the  Missouri  river.  Mr.  Canfield,  at  Fort 
Benton,  endeavored  to  get  Cadotte  himself 
to  pilot  them  over  it,  as  he  had  done  General 
Stevens  in  1854,  but  his  fear  of  being  massa- 
cred by  the  Indians  made  him  refuse  abso- 
lutely to  accompany  them,  however  great  the 
inducements  offered.  The  probable  reason 
why  Cadotte  would  not  accompany  the  party 
was,  that  the  Indians  are  particularly  hostile 
to  half-breeds  who  act  as  guides  to  the 
whites  through  their  country,  and  will  shoot 
them  at  sight,  and  hence,  as  there  was  an 
uprising  of  the  Indians,  he  dare  not  risk  his 
life  as  a  guide  for  the  party,  and  perhaps  it 
was  as  well  he  did  not,  as  it  might  have 
caused  the  Indians  to  attack  them.  Mr. 
Canfield  then  returned  to  Fort  Shaw,  and, 
after  much  urging,  induced  General  De 
Trobriand  to  give  them  an  escort  of  six  men, 
really  of  no  use  in  case  of  an  attack.  For- 
tunately, however,  none  was  made,  and  the}r 
crossed  the  pass  over  the  mountains  and 
back,  and  returned  to  Helena  without  injury. 
At  Helena  and  Deer  Lodge  he  was  warmly 
welcomed  by  the  citizens,  as  being  the  first 
director  of  a  railroad  who  had  ever  visited 
Montana,  and  to  them  the  harbinger  of 
brighter  days.  From  Helena  they  went  to 
Bozeman,  crossing  at  the  Three  Forks,  where 
Madison,  Gallatin  and  Jefferson  rivers  meet, 
and  form  the  Missouri. 

BROUGHT    TO    A    STOP    BY    "  SITTING  BULL." 

Here  a  consultation  was  held  with  Colonel 
Brackett,  in  command  of  Fort  Ellis,  near 
Bozeman,  General  Sully,  the  old  Indian 
fighter,  and  General  De  Trobriand,  who 
had  in  the  meantime  come  down  from 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


Fort  Shaw,  as  to  the  expediency  of  con- 
tinuing their  expedition  down  the  Yellow- 
stone river  to  Fort  Buford,  or  across 
from  Glendive  to  where  Bismarck  now  is 
located.  Although  the  Crow  Indians,  whose 
reservation  was  about  200  miles  east,  were 
friendly,  yet  Sitting  Bull  and  his  band  of 
Sioux,  who  were  encamped  about  the  Big 
Horn,  Tongue  and  Powder  rivers,  was  not 
friendly,  but  upon  the  other  hand,  hos- 
tile. The  officers  decided  that  it  would 
be  simply  impossible  for  them,  with  all  the 
troops  at  their  command,  to  escort  the 
party  through  the  Sioux  territory  safely, 
.and  advised  Mr.  Canfield  to  abandon 
the  expedition  without  going  any  further 
east.  There  still  were  the  Bozeman  moun- 
tains, which  had  not  been  examined,  and 
which  it  would  be  necessary  to  cross  in  case 
the  Yellowstone  line  should  be  adopted, 
and  Mr.  Canfield  determined  at  all  hazards  to 
cross  them  to  the  Yellowstone,  if  no  further. 
He  accordingly  raised  a  few  men  and  horses 
at  Bozeman,  and  went  over  the  pass  to  a 
point  where  Livingston  now  is.  Here  they 
remained  for  a  day,  and  as  the  rest  of  the 
route  to  the  east  was  by  the  valley,  the  Yel- 
lowstone, where  there  were  no  serious 
obstacles,  and  as  all  that  part  between  here 
and  the  Pacific  ocean,  about  one  thousand 
miles,  where  were  all  the  mountains  and 
difficult  parts  of  the  route  had  been 
carefully  examined,  and  passes  found  which 
would  admit  of  a  railroad  being  built, 
the  representatives  of  Mr.  Cooke  decided 
their  mission  had  practically  been  accom- 
plished ;  and  assuring  Mr.  Canfield  that  their 
declining  to  go  down  the  Yellowstone  Val- 
ley would  not  affect  the  substance  of  their 
report,  he  returned  to  Bo/eman.  Mi'.  Can- 
field  then  turned  back  with  his  party,  went 
across  the  country  with  a  mule  team  150 
miles  to  Virginia  City,  and  took  stages  to 
Corrinne,  and  then  by  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road to  the  East,  reaching  New  York  after 


an  absence  of  about  three  months.  During 
the  trip  the  engineers  had  been  very  reticent 
as  to  their  views  of  the  route,  which  created 
no  little  anxiety  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Canfield, 
lest  they  might  not  make  a  favorable  report. 
This  was  a  very  important  matter  to  the 
company  at  this  time,  as  upon  the  report  of 
these  men  Mr.  Cooke  would  furnish  the 
money  or  not  to  go  on  with  the  construc- 
tion. Mr.  Canfield  felt  that  a  great  responsi- 
bility was  placed  upon  him,  as  in  the  event 
of  his  not  showing  them  a  good  route,  such 
as  would  be  satisfactory,  the  whole  arrange- 
|  ment  with  Mr.  Cooke  must  be  abandoned,  as 
well  as  the  construction  of  the  road.  But 
Mr.  Canfield,  by  his  stud}'  of  the  route  in 
former  years — from  the  information  he  had 
obtained  from  prominent  and  intelligent 
settlers  in  Oregon,  "Washington  and  Mon- 
tana, and  officers  of  the  army — was  enabled 
to  conduct  the  expedition  through  a  favor- 
able route,  which  subsequent  surveys  have 
confirmed,  and  the  railroad  from  the  Colum- 
bia river  to  the  Yellowstone  has  been  finally 
built  on  the  route  he  reported  and  most  of 
the  way  in  sight  of  the  very  trail  which  this 
party  made  in  1869.  The  result  of  the  expe- 
dition turned  out  favorably,  and  the  gentle- 
men sent  on  by  Mr.  Cooke  unanimously 
reported  that  the  half  had  not  been  told  by 
the  directors,  and  that  the  country  was  in  fact 
far  better  than  they  had  ever  represented 
it  to  be. 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Cooke's  party,  which 
had  been  sent  out  from  St.  Paul  under  the 
charge  of  Governor  Smith  and  Mr.  Rice,  two 
of  the  directors,  to  explore  and  examine  the 
eastern  end  of  the  line  from  Lake  Superior 
to  the  Missouri  river,  had  returned  and 
reported  very  favorably  upon  their  part, 
which  complied  fully  with  the  condition 
required  by  Mr.  Cooke  in  the  postscript  to 
the  agreement,  much  to  his  satisfaction,  and 
he  at  once  commenced  negotiating  the  bonds, 
and  the  work  of  construction  began. 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


33 


Thus,  after  nearly  four  years  of  continuous 
struggle  by  the  syndicate,  they  had  reached 
the  great  turning  point  of  the  commencement 
of  construction  of  their  cherished  under- 
taking. 

ORGANIZATION     OF     THE      LAKE      SUPERIOR     AND 
PUGET    SOUND    COMPANY. 

It  was  soon  found  that  many  of  the  cross- 
ings of  rivers  and  other  places  favorable  to 
the  location  of  towns  were  upon  even  sections, 
while  the  company,  under  their  grant  from 
Congress,  received  only  the  odd  ones,  and 
had  no  right  under  their  charter  to  buy 
lands.  In  order  to  get  over  this  difficulty 
.a  company  was  formed  called  "  The  Lake 
Superior  &  Puget  Sound  Company,"  of 
which  Mr.  Canfield  was  made  president, 
which  was  empowered  to  buy  lands,  build 
boats,  and  do  most  any  kind  of  business  to 
further  the  interest  of  the  railroad  company. 

In  carrying  out  the  plans  contemplated  by 
the  Lake  Superior  &  Puget  Sound  Com- 
pany, Mr.  Canfield  located,  platted  and  laid 
out  on  the  line  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Kail- 
road,  between  Lake  Superior  and  the  Red 
river,  the  towns  of  Komoka,  Kimberly, 
Aitkin,  Brainerd,  Motley,  Aldrich,  Wadena, 
Perham,  Audubon,  Lake  Park,  Hawley, 
Olyndon  and  Moorhead. 

In  1870,  when  the  only  railroad  north  or 
west  of  St.  Paul  was  the  one  to  Sank 
Rapids,  Mr.  Canfield  and  Governor  Smith 
came  up  from  there  by  team  to  old  Crow 
Wing  and  stopped  with  old  Captain  Beau- 
lieu,  now  living  at  White  Earth,  which 
was  the  end  of  white  settlement  in  that 
direction.  They  then  went  up  the  Mississippi 
river  to  find  a  place  where  there  were  two 
high  banks  that  the  road  could  cross  without 
the  necessity  of  a  draw-bridge,  and  selected 
the  place  where  Brainerd  now  is,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  selected  the  place  for  the  shops 
also  the  station  and  headquarters.  This  was 
then  a  wilderness,  and  Mr.  Canfield  at  once 


surveyed  the  tract  and  laid  out  what  is  the 
present  city  of  Brainerd,  and  placed  Lyman 
P.  White  in  charge  as  agent,  who  has  filled 
the  position  ever  since,  Mrs.  White  being  the 
first  white  woman  to  live  in  Brainerd. 
Engineers  then  proceeded  to  locate  the  rail- 
road east  and  west  from  this  place.  The 
next  year,  when  the  track  had  been  laid  about 
eighteen  miles  west  of  Brainerd,  Mr.  Can- 
field,  in  company  with  several  directors 
of  the  road  and  others,  made  a  trip  into 
Dakota,  with  Pierre  Bottineau  for  a  guide, 
who  is  still  living  near  Red  Lake  Falls. 
They  had  to  carry  their  provisions  with 
them,  both  for  man  and  beast.  From  the 
end  of  the  track  they  passed  through 
the  woods,  encamping  the  first  night  west  of 
the  Crow  Wing  river,  a  few  miles  north  of 
Aldrich,  and  the  second  night  at  Otter  Tail 
lake.  Here  they  found  a  few  huts  which 
had  been  occupied  previous  to  the  Indian 
outbreak  in  1862.  Thence  they  went  across 
the  prairie  south  of  Perham.  crossing  the 
Otter  Tail  where  the  railroad  now  does, 
also  at  Frazee  City,  then  through  woods  on 
the  banks  of  Detroit  lake,  and  camping  that 
night  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  hear  where 
Detroit  now  is.  There  was  but  one  house  at 
Detroit,  and  that  a  log  one  built  by  Mr. 
Tyler.  Thence  to  Audubon,  the  next  day 
striking  Sand  Beach  lake  where  Mr.  Boyer 
now  lives  and  through  the  woods  to  the 
north  side  of  Lake  Flora,  on  which  Lake 
Park  is  now  located.  Here  they  stopped  for 
lunch.  They  were  particularly  pleased  with 
the  surrounding  scenery,  and  all  thought 
that  this  was  the  most  beautiful  country  they 
had  ever  seen.  Mr.  Martin  Olson  had  just 
got  here  a  few  days  before  in  a  "  prairie 
schooner"  with  his  family  and  took  up  a 
claim  on  Lake  La  Belle,  where  he  still  resides. 
The  party  encamped  that  night  on  the  high 
ground  beyond  Muskoda,  in  full  view  of  the 
Red  River  Yalley.  Next  morning,  while  the 
most  of  the  party  moved  on  toward  the  Red 


34 


THOMAS  H,  CAN  FIELD. 


river,  Mr.  Caniield  took  four  or  five  of  the 
directors  across  the  Buffalo  and    went  on  to 
where   Moorhead   and   Fargo   now   are,   to 
show  them  the  place  he  had  selected  for  these 
towns  and  the  crossing  of  the  Red  river,  and 
in  the  afternoon  went  down  the  river,  join- 
ing   the    rest    of     the    party    at    George- 
town, the  Hudson  Bay  post,  the  only  settle- 
ment in  that  part  of  the  country.     The  next 
day — Sunday — was  spent  at  Georgetown,  on 
the  Dakota  side  of  the  river,  where  religious 
services  were  held.     There  being  no  clergy- 
man with  the  party,  Dr.  Samuel  "W.  Thayer, 
of  Burlington,  Vermont,  the  medical  director 
of   the   company,  read   the  services  of  the 
Episcopal  Church,  assisted  by   Mr.   Can  field, 
in  which  all  the  party  joined   heartily,  and 
especially   in   the   psalms  and  hymns ;  con- 
spicuous in  their   strong  voices    were   Vice- 
President  Colfax,   Messrs.  Ogden,   Billings 
and  Nettleton.     The  party  consisted  of  Gov- 
ernor   Smith,    of    Yermont,     president    of 
the   Northern    Pacific   Railroad;  Frederick 
Billings,   of   "Woodstock,    Vermont ;  W.   B. 
Ogden,    of    Chicago;    A.    H.    Barney,    of 
New   York;  Richard   D.   Rice,   of  Maine; 
William  Windom,  of  Minnesota,  and  Thomas 
H.  Canfield,  all  directors ;  Dr.  S.  W.  Thayer, 
Hon.   Schuyler  Colfax,  Gen.  A.  B.  Nettle- 
ton  and  George  B.  Wright,  of  Minneapolis; 
C.  Carleton  Cofiin,  of  Boston ;  Mr.  Linsley, 
assistant  engineer  of  the  road;  Thomas  C. 
Hawley,  now  of  Lake  Park ;  Mrs.  Rice,  Mrs. 
Coffin,  Mrs.  Governeur  Morris,  of  New  York, 
and    two    daughters,    and    Miss  Audubon, 
grand-daughter   of    the  great  ornithologist, 
after  whom  the  town  of  Audubon  is  named, 
and  J.  Young  Scammon,  of  Chicago.     On 
Monday  the  party  went  into  Dakota  some 
twenty  miles,  and  then  striking  south  came 
across    to    Fort    Abercrombie    and    thence 
back    to    St.   Paul   via  Pomme    de   Terre, 
Alexandria,   Sauk    Centre    and    St.  Cloud. 
Mr.  Canfield  left  the  party  at  McCauley  ville, 
and  came  back  across  the  country  on  horse- 


back alone,  with  some  provisions  in  his 
pocket,  to  examine  more  fully  the  proper 
places  for  towns  and  to  look  out  a  line  from 
the  Buffalo  river  for  the  railroad  to  the 
height  of  land  at  Lake  Park. 

LOCATION  OF  JUSMARCK. 

In   May,   Ib72,   before  the  railroad  track 
had  reached  the  Red  river,  while  there  was 
but   one   white   inhabitant   west    of    it,   he 
crossed  the  plains  with  his  horse  and  buggy, 
accompanied  by  General  Thomas  L.  Rosser, 
Mr.  Biy  and  others,  carrying  their  own   pro- 
visions  from   Moorhead,   200   miles   to  the 
Missouri,  while  it   was  yet  Indian  Territory, 
and  located  Fargo  and  laid  out  and  located 
Valley  City,  Jamestown   and  Bismarck,  and 
determined  the  point  for  the  crossing  of  the 
Missouri  by  the  railroad,  where  the  long  iron 
bridge  now  is.     Great  care  had  to  be  taken 
in  the  selection  of  sites  for  the  various  towns, 
so  as  to  accommodate  the  surrounding  country 
after  it  should   be  settled  up,   but  especial 
care  was  important  that  the  title  to  the  land 
should   be  perfect.     Innumerable   were  the 
difficulties  that  appeared  in  this  respect — all 
sorts   of   questions   arose  suddenly,   various 
and  unexpected  claimants  turned  up,  which 
required  much  patience  and  a  knowledge  of 
the  land  laws  to  overcome.    Great  difficulties 
were  experienced  with  those  towns  west  of 
the    Red   river,   because    the     lands     were 
unsurveyed,  and  especially  because  the  panic 
of   1873  came  on  before  the   railroad   was 
built  in  Dakota,  which  caused  a  suspension 
of  the  work  for  two  years,  during  which 
time  the  various  points  had  to  be  kept  pos- 
session of,  at  an  enormous  expense,  by  agents 
residing  there  the  year  around  in  log  huts, 
the  provisions  for  whose   maintenance  the 
whole  year  had  to  be  transported  across  the 
country  in  summer,  as  no  one  would  ven- 
ture  to   make   such   a  journey    in    winter. 
The  original  log  house  at  Jamestown,  which 
Merritt   Wiseman,  agent  of   the  company, 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


35 


occupied  as  a  post  for  two  years  is  still 
standing,  as  well  as  some  of  those  occupied 
by  the  employes  of  the  company  at  Bis- 
marck. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  various  claims 
made  by  different  parties,  whether  under  the 
homestead,  pre-emption  or  town-site  laws,  or 
whether  upon  the  surveyed  or  unsurveyed 
lands,  the  whole  was  so  thoroughly  examined 
and  cleared  up  that  there  has  never  been  a 
flaw  found  in  the  title  to  any  of  the  lands  or 
lots  in  these  various  locations,  where  now 
are  flourishing  villages  and  cities,  and  the 
deed  or  contract  of  the  Lake  Superior  & 
Puget  Sound  Company  is  regarded  as  safe  as 
a  Government  patent. 

In  November,  1871,  Mr.  Canfield  crossed 
the  desert  500  miles  from  Ogden  on  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  when  there  were  very  few 
settlers  in  that  country,  to  Snake  river  near 
Shoshone  falls;  thence  to  Boise  City,  Idaho, 
and  to  Baker  City,  eastern  Oregon,  via  the 
Burnt  creek  crossing  of  the  Snake  river, 
near  where  the  Oregon  Short  Line  Railroad 
now  crosses;  thence  across  the  Blue  mount- 
ains td  Umatilla,  on  the  Columbia  river, 
and  thence  by  steamer  to  Portland,  Ore- 
gon, meeting  there  Mr.  Rice,  the  vice- 
president  of  the  company,  who  had  pre- 
ceded him  via  San  Francisco  and  an 
ocean  steamer,  and  with  whom  he  was  a 
committee  of  the  Board  of  Directors  to  ar- 
range for  commencing  the  construction  of  the 
road  from  Columbia  river  to  Puget  Sound. 

The  alkali  dust  of  the  plains,  so  light  that 
it  rises  like  a  cloud  and  covers  everything  the 
first  mile  traveled,  which  fills  the  hair  and 
clothes,  penetrates  the  eyes,  ears,  nose,  mouth 
and  throat.constantly  irritating  them  and  pro- 
ducing soreness;  the  scarcity  of  water  and 
provisions,  and  the  rough  trails  and  difficult 
crossings  of  streams;  the  rather  familiar 
attention  of  wild  animals,  with  their  raven- 
ous demands  upon  himself  and  his  teamster, 
his  only  escort  most  of  the  way,  made  this 


trip  across  the  country  the  hardest  by  far  he 
ever  experienced. 

While  on  the  coast,  this  time  he  ex- 
plored Puget  Sound  for  the  second  time, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Rice  and  some  engi- 
neers, and  also  went  up  the  Columbia  river 
as  far  as  the  Cascade  rapids. 

EXPLORATION  OF  PUGET    SOUND  AND  LOCATION  OF 
TACOMA. 

While  it  always  had  been  the  intention 
and  policy  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  to  use  the  navigable  waters  of  the 
lakes  and  rivers  across  the  continent  in  the 
first  instance  and  connecting  the  portages  by 
railroad,  in  order  to  get  a  communication 
through  the  whole  route  as  soon  as  possible, 
which  would  at  first  make  the  Columbia 
river  route  available  and  Portland  the  ter- 
minus of  the  branch  line,  and  the  commer- 
cial center  of  Oregon,  yet  Mr.  Canfield 
always  insisted  that  sooner  or  later  the 
interest  of  the  railroad  would  demand  the 
construction  of  the  short  line  across  the 
Cascade  mountains  to  Puget  Sound.  How- 
ever much  the  views  of  the  directors  of  that 
day  may  have  been  modified  in  favor  of 
Portland  as  a  final  terminus  in  consequence 
of  the  obstacles  presented  by  the  Cascnde 
range,  he  never  subscribed  to  their  views, 
but  took  the  ground  that  the  future  great 
commercial  city  on  the  Pacific  coast  would 
be  on  the  waters  of  Puget  Sound,  where  it 
could  be  approached  with  ease  through  the 
Straits  of  Fuca  by  the  largest  vessels  from 
all  parts  of  the  world,  without  being  sub- 
jected to  delays,  damage  and  shipwreck  by 
the  bars  which  necessarily  are  formed  at  the 
mouths  of  the  great  rivers.  Accordingly, 
he  secured  large  tracts  of  land  at  various 
points  on  the  sound  from  Olympia  to  Bell- 
ingham  bay,  and  had  a  thorough  examina- 
tion made  of  all  the  bays  and  harbors,  as 
well  as  of  the  country  contiguous,  as  to  the 
practicability  of  approach  by  a  railroad,  and 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


the  supply  of  fresh  water  for  a  city  with 
reference  to  selecting  a  site  for  the  future 
terminus  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad. 

At  Tacoma  he  purchased  a  large  tract, 
believing  it  would  be  the  point  on  the  sound 
where  a  railroad  from  the  south  would  first 
touch  it,  and  connect  it  with  the  Willamette 
valley  and  all  the  immense  productive  coun- 
try west  of  the  Cascade  mountains  for  hun- 
dreds of  miles  to  California  and  beyond  by 
branches  to  Utah  and  Nevada,  at  the  same 
time  being  located,  as  it  were,  in  front  of 
the  Cowlitz,  Natchez,  Stampede  and  Snoqual- 
mie  passes  of  the  Cascade  range,  one  of 
which  he  believed  the  railroad  would,  sooner 
or  later,  adopt  as  its  crossing,  as  it  would  be 
the  easiest  point  of  access  for  the  main  line 
from  the  east,  forming  a  junction  at  Tacoma 
with  the  lines  from  Oregon,  California,  Utah 
and  Nevada  from  the  south,  even  if  in  the 
future  it  should  be  deemed  expedient  by  the 
company  to  continue  the  line  down  the 
sound  to  some  point  nearer  to  the  entrance 
of  the  Straits  of  Fuca  as  the  final  terminus. 
The  wisdom  of  this  selection  lias  since  been 
demonstrated  by  the  construction  of  a  rail- 
road from  California  to  Tacoma,  and  by  the 
extension  of  the  main  line  from  Lake  Supe- 
rior across  the  Cascade  mountains  through 
the  Stampede  pass  to  the  same  place,  which 
although  at  the  time  of  his  purchase  was  a 
wilderness,  is  now  a  city  of  20,000  people,  at 
whose  wharf  float  vessels  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  exchanging  the  products  of  China, 
Japan  and  the  Central  and  South  American 
States  for  those  of  Washington  and  Montana, 
Dakota  and  the  Eastern  States. 

Thus,  through  the  agency  of  Mr.  Canfield, 
the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company  has 
been  enabled  to  secure  a  large  tract  of  land 
on  the  Mediterranean  of  the  Pacific,  giving 
it  ample  facilities  for  its  terminus,  shops, 
buildings,  side  tracks,  wharves  and  ware- 
houses, approachable  without  difficulty  by 
the  largest  vessels  in  the  world,  as  well  as 


enabling  it  to  lay  out  a  city  upon  a  plan  and 
scale  which  shall  adequately  provide  for  all 
the  wants  and  comforts  of  future  genera- 
tions, and  which  shall  be  a  fitting  counter- 
part to  one  to  be  built  at  its  eastern  terminus 
on  Lake  Superior,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
waters  of  the  St.  Louis  river,  where  Duluth 
and  Superior  now  are,  and  which  shall  be  the 
great  center  of  business  of  that  empire  of 
the  Northwest  now  being  so  rapidly  devel- 
oped, and  second  only  to  Chicago  in  popula- 
tion and  commercial  importance  on  the 
great  chain  of  lakes. 

In  the  words  of  the  late  first  engineer  of 
the  company,  Mr.  Johnson,  "  It  should  be 
the  ambition  of  all  who  are  instrumental  in 
its  growth  to  render  it  the  queen  city  of  the 
Pacific  coast,  the  model  city  of  the  world. 
No  unfriendly  elements  should  be  allowed  to 
mingle  in  or  mar  its  fair  proportions.  It 
should  be  in  all  respects  a  fitting  exponent 
of  the  benign  and  elevating  influence  of 
our  free  institutions,  and  should  occupy 
the  very  foremost  place  among  the  great 
cities  of  Christendom,  reflecting  upon 
the  isles  of  the  Pacific  and  the  shores 
of  Asia,  over  which  it  is  destined  to  exert 
a  vast  influence,  the  light  of  the  most 
improved  civilization." 

At  this  time,  also,  Mr.  Canfield  located 
Tenino,  Newaukem,  Skookum  Chuck,  Olequa 
and  Kalama  on  the  line  between  Tacoma  and 
Portland.  Kalama  was  selected  because  it 
was  at  the  head  of  high  water  navigation  of  the 
Columbia  river,  at  the  same  time  being  near 
Coffin  Rock,  which  was  one  of  the  few  places 
where  the  Columbia  river  could  be  bridged. 
Kalama  was  the  place  on  the  Pacific  coast 
where  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  laid  its 
first  rail,  and  which  was  its  headquarters  for 
several  years  on  that  coast. 

PURCHASE     OF  THE    OREGON    STEAM    NAVIGATION 
COMPANY. 

It  was  while  here  Mr.  Canfield  foresaw  the 
importance  which  the  Oregon  Steam  Naviga- 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


37 


tion  Company  might  be  to  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad  Company,  especially  during 
the  progress  of  construction  and  until  the 
company  should  build  their  Portland  branch. 
This  was  a  company  owning  twenty  steamers, 
navigating  from  the  ocean  at  Astoria,  the 
waters  of  the  Columbia,  Willamette  and 
Snake  rivers  and  Pend  d'Oreille  lake  for 
thousands  of  miles  into  Oregon,  Washington, 
Idaho  and  Montana  Territories.  It  was 
principally  owned  by  Messrs.  Ains worth, 
Thompson  and  Reed,  of  Portland,  and 
Alvinza  Hay  ward,  of  San  Francisco,  and  had 
been  built  up  from  one  small  boat,  each  run 
by  Capts.  Ainsworth  and  Thompson,  and  one 
of  the  best  and  most  systematically  man- 
aged companies  in  this  country.  Upon  their 
showing  to  Mr.  Canfield  a  full  statement  of 
their  business  from  the  beginning,  he  com- 
menced negotiations  with  them  for  the  whole 
property,  which  finally  resulted  in  Messrs. 
Ainsworth  and  Thompson  meeting  Mr. 
Canfield  and  Mr.  Jay  Cooke  at  the  latter's 
residence,  Ogontz,  near  Philadelphia,  in  the 
following  winter,  and  the  sale  was  consum- 
mated, the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany buying  three-quarters  of  the  stock  of 
the  Oregon  Navigation  Company,  and  the 
original  parties  retaining  one-quarter  and 
agreeing  to  manage  the  property  the  same 
as  they  had  done  so  long  as  the  Northern 
Pacific  Rail  road  desired.  But  unfortunately 
the  control  of  the  Oregon  Navigation  Com- 
pany was  lost  in  the  panic  of  1873.  Subse- 
quent events  connected  with  the  Oregon  and 
Transcontinental  Company  have  shown  how 
important  to  the  Northern  Pacific  was  the 
Oregon  Navigation  Company,  justifying  the 
views  originally  entertained  by  Mr.  Canfield 
of  the  importance  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
Company  owning  and  controlling  it. 

In  1872  Mr.  Canfield  escorted  a  majority 
of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad  to  Oregon  and  Washington 
Territory,  going  via  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 


road in  a  special  car  to  Sacramento,  thence 
overland  by  stage  and  rail  to  Portland  and 
Puget  Sound.  Messrs.  Cass,  Ogden,  Wright, 
Billings,  Stinson,  Ainsworth  and  Windom, 
directors ;  Samuel  Wilkeson,  secretary  of  the 
company  ;Milnor  Roberts,engineer;Dr.Thaver 
and  Colonel  W.S.  King,of  Minnesota,  compos- 
ing the  party.  This  was  the  first  time  these 
gentlemen  had  visited  the  Pacific  coast,  and, 
as  what  they  then  saw  would  probably 
determine  many  important  matters  about 
the  future  of  the  company's  affairs,  especially 
the  crossing  of  the  Cascade  range  and  the 
terminus,  Mr.  Canfield  chartered  a  steamer 
and  visited  by  daylight  all  the  principal 
places  on  the  sound  from  Olympia  to  Victo- 
ria and  Bellingham  bay,  returning  through 
Deception  pass,  being  the  first  steamer  that 
ever  went  through  this  pass  back,  of  Whidby 
island,  into  Holmes'  harbor,  the  best  harbor 
on  the  sound,  thence  to  Seattle,  then  a 
place  of  3,000  people,  on  Elliott  bay ; 
then  to  Commencement  bay,  which  was 
then  surrounded  by  a  wilderness,  but  it 
was  subsequently  settled  upon  as  the  terminus 
—being  where  Tacoma  is  now  located.  At 
that  early  day,  with  nearly  2,000  miles 
between  Puget  Sound  and  Lake  Superior  to 
be  traversed  by  an  iron  rail,  much  of  which 
was  then  unsurveyed  or  even  explored,  except 
by  Mr.  Canfield's  expedition  in  1869,  the 
idea  of  crossing  so  high  a  range  of  mount- 
ains as  the  Cascades  was  not  regarded  by 
the  directors  as  an  easy  matter,  especially 
by  those  accustomed  to  building  roads  across 
the  prairies ;  but  Mr.  Canfield  took  the 
ground  that  an  enterprise  of  this  magnitude 
would  sooner  or  later  demand  the  crossing 
of  the  mountains,  and,  although  some  who 
were  present  might  not  live  to  see  that  day, 
yet  he  predicted  the  demands  of  trade 
and  commerce  would  be  so  great,  that 
before  1890  trains  would  run  from 
St.  Paul  and  Duluth  to  the  waters  of  Puget 
Sound  without  breaking  bulk  across  the  Cas- 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


cade  mountains,  which  prediction  has  been 
fulfilled  three  years  in  advance  of  the  time 
named  by  him. 

PREDICTION  THAT  LOUISBURG  WILL  ULTIMATELY 
BE  THE  EASTERN  TERMINUS  OF  THE  NORTH- 
ERN RAILWAY  SYSTEM. 

Twenty-three  years  ago  Mr.  Canfield 
visited  the  Island  of  Cape  Breton,  the  last 
of  December,  and  made  an  examination  of 
Louisburg  harbor,  the  best  harbor  on  the 
Atlantic  coast  from  Cape  North  to  Cape 
Sable,  with  reference  to  the  facilities  for  a 
shipping  port,  and  he  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion then  and  still  firmly  believes,  it  will 
become  the  terminus  of  the  northern  chain 
of  railroads  across  the  continent,  being  only 
four  days  from  Liverpool,  with  abundance 
of  coal  within  ten  miles.  That  the  tea  of 
China  and  Japan,  and  the  spices  of  the 
Indies  destined  for  Europe  will  go  on  board 
the  cars  at  Tacoma,  and  not  be  transferred 
until  put  on  board  of  steamers  for  Liverpool 
at  Louisburg.  It  was  one  of  the  three- walled 
towns  built  on  this  continent  although  now 
entirely  deserted,  having  been  destroyed  in 
1760  during  the  French  and  English  wars. 
It  wras  once  a  city  of  10,000  people  and  it 
was  there  that  General  Wolfe  fitted  out  his 
expedition  against  Quebec.  In  fact,  since 
Mr.  Canfield  was  there  the  railroads  have 
been  extended  from  Montreal  to  within 
100  miles  of  Louisburg,  and  a  car  of  freight 
can  now  be  shipped  from  Tacoma  to  the 
Straits  of  Canso,  in  Cape  Breton,  without 
breaking  bulk,  and  it  can  not  be  long  before 
this  last  100  miles  will  be  constructed. 
Then,  with  a  train  of  Pullman  Palace 
Sleeping  and  Dining  cars  standing  on  the 
wharf  at  Louisburg  upon  the  arrival  of 
a  steamer  from  Europe  with  a  load 
of  sea-sick  passengers  on  board,  it  will 
require  no  great  stretch  of  imagination  to 
determine  how  many  will  remain  on  board 
to  make  the  rough  passage  along  the  coast 
when  they  can  step  on  board  the  vestibule 


train,  retire  and  be  in  Boston  the  next  day 
to  dinner  and  New  York  to  supper. 

The  result  of  Mr.  Canfield's  experience  is, 
he  has  traveled  over  nearly  all  the  country 
between  Lake  Superior  and  the  Pacific  ocean 
via  the  northern  route,  on  foot,  or  horseback, 
or  muleback,  in  carts  or  wagons,  long  before 
the  iron  horse  was  heard  in  the  land,  and 
consequently  has  become  familiar  with  the 
general  topography  and  character  of  the 
country,  and  entertains  the  most  sanguine 
views  as  to  its  great  capacity  in  the  future. 

Few  men  comprehended  so  fully  at  an  early 
day,  even  when  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis 
were  in  their  infancy,  the  great  capability 
of  this  immense  country — the  fertility  and 
extent  of  the  Red  River  Valley,  equal  to  that 
of  the  Nile — the  abundant  resources  of  vari- 
ous kinds  awaiting  future  development  be- 
tween Lake  Superior  and  Puget  Sound— 
their  capacity  for  easy  and  rapid  develop- 
ment, such  as  no  other  country  has  ever 
before  shown,  which,  combined  with  the  facili- 
ties offered  by  the  Northern  Pacific  and 
Manitoba,  and  other  railroads  yet  to  be  built, 
to  hasten  settlements  and  accommodate 
the  people,  will  create  a  great  Northwestern 
empire,  which  will  not  only  add  incalculable 
wealth  to  the  nation,  but  will  form  an 
important  factor  in  its  future  government. 

NEVER    GAVE    UP    THE    SHIP. 

Amid  all  the  ups  and  downs  of  the  times 
—  amid  all  panics  and  financial  storms  — 
notwithstanding  all  the  discouragements  of 
the  early  days  of  the  Northern  Pacific  and 
the  hostility  of  Congress  to  its  applications  — 
Mr.  Canfield  has  always  maintained  the  same 
abiding  faith  in  this  magnificent  undertak- 
ing- and  the  same  confidence  in  its  ultimate 

O 

success,  and  he  still  believes  it  will  become 
the  great  transcontinental  highway  across 
the  continent  to  Europe,  not  only  for  the 
products  of  the  farm,  forest  and  mines  along 
its  border,  but  for  the  products  of  Japan 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


39 


China  and  the  Indies.  In  fact  it  will  be- 
come the  World's  Highway,  over  which  will 
pass  the  travel  and  business  of  the  most 
enlightened  and  civilized  portions  of  the 
globe. 

In  view  of  the  great  diversity  of  produc- 
tions of  this  country,  and  those  of  the  Central 
American  Statesand  the  British  Dominion, the 
commercial  relations  between  them  and  the 
United  States  must  be  constantly  growing 
stronger  and  stronger, until  their  interest  shall 
be  separated  by  no  transatlantic  influence  or 
power.  Having  great  faith  in  the  wisdom 
and  sober  second  thought  of  the  people  ex- 
pressed through  a  free,  unobstructed  and 
universal  suffrage,  he  believes  that  within  a 
half  century  there  will  be  but  one  English- 
speaking  nation  in  North  America,  under  a 
republican  form  of  government,  extending 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  from 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Arctic  Ocean.  A 
nation  over  which  will  float  only  one  flag,  that 
of  the  stars  and  stripes  of  the  United  States. 
One  Republic,  whose  free  and  enlightened 
institutions  will  confer  upon  millions  of  peo- 
ple all  the  benefits  of  the  highest  and 
most  enlightened  civilization,  and  be  the  con- 
trolling power  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth. 

Mr.  Canfield  continued  as  president  of  the 
Lake  Superior  &  Puget  Sound  Company 
and  a  director  of  the  N  orthern  Pacific  Rail- 
road until  the  bankruptcy  of  the  company  in 
1873,  when,  upon  its  reorganization,  it  became 
the  principal  owner  of  the  Lake  Superior 
&  Puget  Sound  Company,  and  no  necessity 
existed  longer  for  an  active  manager.  Mr. 
Canfield  resigned  after  having  devoted  over 
twenty  years  of  the  prime  of  his  life  to  inaug- 
urate and  put  into  operation  this  magnifi- 
cent enterprise,  with  which  his  name  must  be 
forever  identified  as  its  most  active  organ- 
izer and  promoter  in  its  dark  days,  when 
very  few  had  the  faintest  idea  it  would  ever 
amount  to  anything. 


It  is  a  little  remarkable  that  during  all 
these  many  years,  amid  all  the  various  modes 
of  transportation,  and  the  millions  of  miles 
he  has  traveled  and  in  so  many  different 
places  where  there  were  no  roads  or  other 
conveniences,  he  has  never  met  with  anv 
accident  nor  has  he  ever  carried  anv  fire- 
arms of  any  description  for  a  single  rod  ;  has 
never  had  any  serious  trouble  with  the 
Indians  or  "roughs"  of  the  frontier,  although 
meeting  them  at  times  under  not  very  agree- 
able circumstances,  where,  but  for  his  quick 
perception,  good  judgment  of  human  nature 
and  discreet  action,  serious  results  might 
have  occurred. 

The  board  of  directors  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad  decided  at  an  early  day  as 
soon  as  construction  commenced  not  to 
become  personally  interested  in  any  lands  or 
property  on  the  line  of  the  proposed  route;  but 
the  difficulty  of  getting  emigrants  to  go  into 
an  unknown  country  with  all  their  worldly 
effects,  uncertain  as  to  what  the  land  would 
produce,  compelled  the  directors  to  modify 
their  policy  to  a  certain  extent,  and  to  adopt 
one  which  Mr.  Canfield  had  frequently  laid 
before  them,  namely,  that  in  order  to  demon- 
strate to  the  world  the  great  fertility  of  the 
soil  and  its  adaptability  to  farming,  they 
should  at  distances  of,  say  thirty  miles  apart, 
take  up  a  section  of  land  along  the  line  in 
advance  of  settlements,  break  it  up  and 
sow  it  to  wheat,  and  thus  show  by  facts, 
instead  of  talk  and  advertisements  on 
paper,  what  actually  could  be  done.  As 
he  was  the  advocate  of  this  policy,  of 
course,  it  fell  upon  him  to  lead  off, 
and  he  accordingly  purchased  about  5,500 
acres  in  the  Park  Region  of  Minnesota,  at 
Lake  Park,  at  the  point  where  the  outer  rim 
of  the  Red  River  basin  connects  with  the 
timber  region.  Other  directors,  Mr.  Tower 
took  3,000  acres  at  Glyndon,  and  Messrs. 
Cheney  and  Cass  6,000  acres  at  Casselton, 
Dakota,  which  has  since  become  celebrated 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


as  the  Dalrymple  farm,  being  managed  by 
Oliver  Dalrymple,  one  of  the  oldest  wheat 
raisers  in  the  Northwest.  All  these  were  at 
once  put  under  cultivation,  and  the  enormous 
crops  of  No.  1  hard  wheat  the  first  year  gave 
an  impetus  to  emigration  and  settlement;  thus 
the  great  farms  which  have  been  so  much 
abused  did  more  to  advertise  and  develop  the 
country  and  bring  in  emigrants  and  settle 
it  up  than  $100,000  expended  in  advertising. 
Nowhere  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  such 
a  rapid  and  extensive  development  been  made 
as  in  northwestern  Minnesota  and  Dakota, 
over  40,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  having  been 
raised  this  last  year,  besides  all  other  crops, 
and  that,  too,  mostly  upon  what  was  Indian 
territory  in  1870,  and  where  there  was  then 
no  white  inhabitant. 

BACK  TO  FARMING  WHERE  HE  BEGAN  FIFTY 
YEARS  AGO. 

Mr.  Canfield,  since  his  retirement  from  the 
railroad  company,  has  devoted  more  or  less 
of  his  time  to  his  farm  at  Lake  Park,  and  has 
taken  the  ground  that  to  make  a  farming 
country  prosperous  and  successful  it  should 
.not,  be  confined  to  one  single  crop,  like  wheat, 
but  all  crops  adapted  to  the  soil  and  climate 
should  be  raised  ;  and  he  has  endeavored  to 
show  what  can  be  done  by  diversified  farming. 

The  beauties  and  advantages  of  the  Lake 
Park  Eegion,  as  well  as  the  efforts  of  Mr. 
Canfield  in  demonstrating  the  advantages 
and  importance  of  diversified  farming,  are 
strikingly  described  by  an  eminent  writer  and 
traveler,  on  his  return  across  the  continent  a 
few  years  since,  after  having  visited  most 
parts  of  the  United  States.  He  says: 

"  That  vast  forest,  the  admiration  of  wood- 
men and  the  wonder  of  travelers,  bordering- 

o 

on  Lake  Superior,  as  it  proceeds  westward, 
stoutly  contests  the  earth's  surface  with  open 
space  and  limpid  lake.  Gradually,  however, 
the  forest  weakens,  until  here,  thirty  miles 
from  the  Ked  river,  at  about  the  highest 


northern  point  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road, between  Miles  City  and  Duluth,  it 
loses  its  hold,  for  westward  are  the  un- 
bounded un wooded  prairies,  always  to  be 
artificially  watered,  with  exceptional  cases, 
while  surrounding  and  eastward  is  perhaps 
the  most  placidly  beautiful  country  the  eye 
ever  rested  upon. 

"  This  connecting  link  contains  the  last 
lakes — if  Devil  lake  be  excepted — of  size,  and 
the  last  woods  or  forests  for  many  hundred 
miles,  and  as  such  is  not  inaptly  termed  the 
Park  Region,  although  hereabouts  the  Lake 
Park  Region,  from  the  name  of  this  town, 
and  is  consequently  about  the  only  and  near- 
est resort  for  the  Dakotian  of  the  plain  for 
change  of  scenery,  recreation  and  pleasure. 
The  Park  Region,  taking  this  town  as  the 
objective  point,  extends  sixty  miles  south  to 
Fergus  Falls,  thirty  north,  is  in  width  nearly 
thirty  miles,  while  its  altitude  goes  over 
1,300  feet.  It  is  unlike  Dakota  or  Montana, 
for  it  is  neither  flat  nor  mountainous,  but 
undulating,  as  the  ocean,  interspersed  with 
lakes,  groves,  and  an  open,  magnificent  agri- 
cultural country.  Within  twenty  rods  of 
the  depot  is  Lake  Flora,  a  half  mile  wide, 
embowered  with  forest  trees,  and  a  half  mile 
farther  on  is  Lake  La  Belle,  over  two  miles 
long,  and  well  known  for  its  pure  waters  and 
beautiful  surroundings.  Still  in  the  same 
direction  are  other  lakes,  interspersed  with 
farms,  and  vying  in  their  admirable  features. 
In  Minnesota,  according  to  the  statistics  of 
the  land  office,  are  over  10,000  lakes,  and 
within  fift}r  miles  of  Lake  Park  are  200  of 
these ;  Lake  Cormorant,  in  a  direct  line 
south  a  few  miles,  is  the  most  westerly  lake 
of  size  in  Minnesota,  easily  accessible,  has  a 
gravelly  beach  of  100  miles,  surrounded  by 
wooded  hills  on  three  sides,  variegated  with 
forest-covered  islands,  abounding  in  fish  and 
game,  and  capable  of  steamboat  navigation. 
It  must  become  the  great  summer  resort  in 
the  future,  and  divide  the  honors  with  Lake 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


Minnetonka,  especially  for  the  citizens  of 
Dakota.  This  Lake  Cormorant  in  particular, 
and  this  Lake  Park  region  in  general,  are  the 
hunter's  and  fisherman's  paradise,  for  on  these 
hills  are  found  game  of  various  kinds,  and  in 
these  lakes  the  finest-fiber  fish,  only  waiting 
the  angler's  skillful  hook. 

"Renowned,  however,  as  the  Lake  Park 
Region  is  becoming,  and  must  continue  to 
become  as  a  summer  region,  its  forests  and 
farming  lands  indicate  far  more.  What  of 
these  ?  The  forests  are  inviting  indeed  and 
resemble  cultivated  parks,  so  much  so  that 
Bayard  Taylor,  who  described  them  years 
since,  alleged  they  bore  a  striking  like- 
ness to  English  parks  in  their  stateli- 
ness,  the  grassy  grounds  underneath  being 
devoid  of  underbrush  and  stumps.  Those 
near  by  seem  to  be  only  fifty  years  old,  and 
have  caused  much  study  to  the  scientific  as 
to  how  they  came  there.  Four  and  five 
miles  out,  however,  they  seem  older,  not  so 
cultivated,  and  larger.  In  these  forests  are 
found  the  white  oak,  basswood,  maple,  iron- 
wood,  cotton  wood,  ash,  birch,  poplar,  box 
elder  and  some  other  varieties.  Their  utility 
is  easily  seen,  for  in  the  open  prairie  the  fuel 
question  is  an  absorbing  one ;  but  when  it  is 
further  stated  that  these  thick  forests  cut  off 
the  fierce  winds — the  bitter,  biting  curses  of 
the  smooth  prairies — their  further  provident 
use  is  apprehended.  Thus  these  forests  are 
not  alone  a  thing  of  beauty,  but  of  utility  and 
protection. 

"  Now  then  as  to  the  country  between 
lakes  and  woods — the  farming  lands.  It  is 
divided  up,  more  than  in  any  other  place  vis- 
ited, into  farms  of  160  acres.  On  each  of 
these,  almost  without  exception,  are  small 
lakes,  so  that  with  the  natural  grass,  which 
is  similar  to  the  bunch  grass  of  Montana — 
only  the  bunches  are  smaller  and  more  fre- 
quent— they  seem  specially  designed  for  the 
raising  of  cattle,  horses  and  sheep.  This 
grass,  together  with  the  pure  water  and 


atmosphere,  makes  the  very  best  of  milk, 
butter  and  cheese.  The  soil  is  a  rich,  black 
loam,  from  eighteen  to  thirty  inches  deep, 
with  subsoil  of  clay,  and  has  the  same  char- 
acteristics of  the  best  portions  of  the  Red 
River  Valley,  for  the  Lake  Park  Region  is 
the  eastern  edge  or  rim.  The  Red  River 
Valley  wheat  has  attracted  attention  deserv- 
edly throughout  the  civilized  world,  and  is 
the  result  of.  the  peculiar  ingredients  of 
the  soil  no  less  than  the  climate,  and  these 
together  have  produced  the  best  Scotch 
Fife  wheat  in  existence,  known  hereabouts  as 
No.  1  hard, meaning  Scotch  Fi  fe  wheat,  weigh- 
ing, when  cleaned,  fifty-eight  pounds  to  the 
bushel,  often  sixty  and  sixty -one  pounds,  and 
hard.  Duluth  and  Minneapolis  are  its  great 
markets.  The  latter  with  its  vast  mills  turns 
out  20,000  barrels  per  day.  This  is  done  by 
means  of  a  series  of  rollers.  The  first  set 
cracks  the  kernels  of  wheat  in  two,  then  it 
passes  through  a  bolt  and  purifier,  then 
through  a  second  set  of  rollers,  cracking 
it  finer  than  before ;  then  more  dross 
eliminated  by  bolt  and  purifier,  and  so 
on  clean  down  to  the  last  roller,  bolt 
and  purifier,  and  the  final  result  is  the 
most  perfect  flour  in  the  world,  so  much 
so  that  it  is  shipped  direct  from  there  to  Ger- 
many, England,  Scotland,  France,  and  is 
consumed  in  preference  to  any  other  by  the 
best  families  in  the  United  States.  Now  it 
will  be  perceived  why  the  famous  St.  Louis 
flour  and  celebrated  Richmond  (Va.)  flour 
has  been  literally  susperseded.  The  Red 
River  Valley  flour,  bluntly  stated,  is  for  sale 
in  the  markets  of  the  world.  This  is  not  all. 
The  Red  River  Valley  wheat,  of  which  this 
region  is  part  and  parcel,  is  sought  after  by 
all  the  important  milling  centers  in  the 
United  States.  Why  ?  To  mix  with  infe- 
rior grades — tone  them  up  so  as  to  produce 
their  'superfine'  flour.  Thus  in  large 
quantities  this  famous  wheat  is  in  St.  Louis, 
Richmond,  Cincinnati,  Rochester,  Buffalo, 


42 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


Boston,  etc.  The  logical  inference  to  be 
drawn  from  this  is  that  the  lands  from  which 
such  wheat  flour  is  produced  must  be  not 
simply  wonderful,  but  exceedingly  valuable. 
They  are  valuable,  however,  in  the  additional 
fact  that  the  Lake  Park  Region  is  the  one 
naturally  adapted  to  diversified  farming.  In 
order  to  understand  this  and  some  other 
points,  a  little  digression  Avill  be  necessary. 

"  Lake  Park  was  located  and  laid  out  on 
the  4th  of  July,  1873,  by  the  Lake  Superior 
<fe  Puget  Land  Company,  which  was 
organized  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad  Company,  with  the  object 
of  purchasing  land  at  proper  places  for 
stations  on  the  railroad,  establishing  ferries 
across  rivers,  and  doing  anything  else  which 
was  necessary  to  advance  the  construction  of 
the  road  and  which  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad  Company  could  not  do  by  their 
charter. 

"Mr.  Thomas  H.  Can  field,  of  Burlington, 
Vermont,  was  president  of  the  former  and 
director  of  the  latter.  Between  these  two 
positions  his  duties  called  him  to  critically 
examine  sites,  soils,  climates,  ingress  and 
egress,  depressions  and  elevations — in  fact, 
nearly  everything  connected  with  the  ad- 
vancement and  permanency  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad,  and  thus  he  located  and 
laid  out  most  of  the  towns  from  Lake 
Superior  to  the  Missouri  river,  and  many  on 
the  Puget  Sound  and  Columbia  divisions, 
and  this  is  how  he  came  to  select  and  lay  out 
Lake  Park,  in  his  opinion,  as  well  as  that 
of  many  others,  the  most  desirable  place  on 
the  whole  line  of  road  for  beauty  of  land- 
scape and  variety  of  resources.  It  was  diffi- 
cult in  the  early  days  to  get  settlers  on  the 
railroad  line.  They  were  afraid  of  Indians, 
knew  nothingabout  thesoil,  crops  or  climate, 
excepting  vague  rumors  born  of  ignorance 
and  incredulity.  How  then  was  this  to  be 
done?  Why,  'if  the  mountain  won't  come 
to  Mahomet,  Mahomet  must  go  to  the 


mountain;'  in  other  words,  the  directors 
had  to  do  it  themselves,  and  this  common- 
sense  solution  proposed  by  Mr.  Canfield  was 
carried  out.  It  was  absolutely  necessary,  for 
even  after  the  railroad  reached  the  Red 
river  the  settler  would  not  go  beyond,  and, 
furthermore,  at  this  time  there  was  no  settle- 
ment west  of  the  Mississippi  river  north  of 
the  forty-fifth  parallel,  for  this  whole  stretch 
of  country  was  then  considered  by  outsiders  as 
Ind  ian  territory.  In  this  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem, soils,  crops,  etc.,  as  above  stated,  Messrs. 
Cass  &  Cheney  selected  about  3,000  acres 
each  west  of  the  Red  river,  near  Casselton, 
Dakota,  Mr.  Tower  nearly  the  same  amount  at 
Glyndon,  Minnesota,  and  Mr.  Canfield  the 
farm  he  now  occupies  of  3,000  acres  south 
of  Lake  Park,  and  2,500  acres  in  the  adjacent 
town  of  Cuba,  three  miles  north,  for  Rev. 
Dr.  Hawley,  now  of  Brainerd,  Minnesota, 
formerly  of  Connecticut,  by  whose  happy 
suggestion  this  town  received  the  appropriate 
name  of  Lake  Park.  On  these  two  farms 
Mr.  Canfield  has  most  successfully  carried 
out  his  ideas  of  diversified  farming.  The 
writer,  in  company  with  this  gentleman,  had 
the  pleasure  of  examining  these  properties. 
His  farm  was  seen  first.  It  touches  the  rail- 
road limits  and  extends  south  in  one  compact 
body.  At  about  its  center,  on  an  eminence, 
was  the  large,  elegant  two-story  residence 
of  the  foreman,  surrounded  by  houses  for 
workmen,  fine  barns  for  horses,  sheds  for 
cattle,  a  granary,  and  a  warehouse  120  feet 
long  by  30  feet  wide  for  machinery,  for  this 
last  is  the  feature  of  Western  farming.  The 
hands  were  threshing  the  wheat  with  the 

o 

steam  thresher  at  the  rate  of  a  thousand 
bushels  per  day,  and  there  in  the  open  field 
the  bundles  of  wheat  brought  upon  wagons 
were  put  into  the  machine  and  came  out 
shelled  and  were  immediately  placed  in 
bags  and  started  for  the  railroad  elevator, 
to  be  shipped,  to  Duluth  by  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad.  See  by  this  the  startling 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


43 


difference  between  the  time  of  Abraham  and 
the  nineteenth  century.  Here  were  also 
some  of  the  finest  cattle,  unexcelled  by  any 
seen  in  Montana,  with  such  shapely  limbs, 
elegant  coats,  silky,  shiny  hair,  intelligent 
eyes — but  who  can  describe  them?  The 
writer  can  not.  They  are  beyond  him,  and 
are  fit  subjects  for  the  wondrous  tongue  of 
Daniel  Webster  or  the  vivid  brush  of  Rosa 
Bonheur.  And  now,  what  shall  be  said 
of  the  horses  ?  They  were  the  best  and 
largest  lot  of  blooded  stock  seen  in  this 
Western  tour,  for  there  was  not  a  stick 
among  them  all.  No  wonder  that  a  man 
likes  to  steal  horses.  The  writer  in  looking 
at  this  magnificent  lot  felt  like  taking  one 
himself.  On  the  eastern  part  of  this  farm 
there  is  an  unusual  eminence,  to  which 
Mr.  Canh'eld  took  the  writer,  which  eminence 
could  only  be  compared  to  the  place  where 
the  devil  took  the  Savior,  not  so  much  on 
account  of  its  elevation  as  the  vast  stretch 
of  vision  it  afforded.  It  was  a  clear,  sun- 
shiny day  and  the  whole  country  was 
spread  out  before  us.  There  were  the 
groves,  the  lakes,  the  cattle,  the  horses,  the 
fields  of  grain  cut  and  uncut,  the  threshers 
in  various  directions,  trains  of  cars  on  the 
Northern  Pacific,  and  last,  not  least,  over 
300  farm  houses,  Avhere  ten  years  ago  was 
not  one.  Never  has  the  writer  had  such  an 
extensive  and  varied  view  in  every  direction, 
not  even  from  the  highest  elevation  of  the 
Rocky  mountains.  Mr.  Canfield  commenced 
operations  on  these  two  farms  in  187G,  and 
has  now  under  the  plow  about  900  acres  on 
one,  and  600  on  the  other.  He  has  built 
about  fifty  miles  of  fence  composed  of  oak 
rails  and  barbed  wire,  introduced  some  of 
the  best  Short-horn  herds  of  the  country, 
superior  blooded  stock,  until  he  now  has  400 
head  of  thoroughbreds  and  high  grades. 
These  have  been  bred  with  reference  to 
form,  best  adapted  to  carry  the  greatest 
amount  of  muscle  and  fat,  disposed  in  the 


best  manner  to  secure  the  choicest  beef, 
at  the  same  time  having  in  view  the  strain 
possessing  the  highest  qualities  for  milk  and 
butter,  thus  making  them  particularly  valu- 
able for  this  section  of  the  country,  both  for 
beef  and  the  dairy.  All  these  animals  have 
been  bred  with  care  by  the  most  experienced 
breeders,  their  pedigrees  showingaline  direct 
from  some  of  the  highest  and  best  English 
stock.  He  has  also  purchased  two 
Percheron  Norman  stallions  from  France, 
from  which  he  has  raised  many  supe- 
rior colts  as  well  as  enabling  his  neigh- 
bors to  do  the  same.  TJiis  breed  of  horses  is 
particularly  adapted  to  a  farm  where  so 
much  machinery  is  needed.  They  weigh 
from  1,400  to  1,600  pounds  each,  and  being 
fast  walkers  accomplish  much  more  every 
day  with  the  machinery  than  ordinary  horses, 
and  thus  being  strong  in  proportion  they  are 
a  great  profit  in  the  course  of  a  year  by  the 
excess  of  their  strength  and  quickness.  To 
those  who  have  considered  farming  on  a  large 
scale,  where  the  raising  of  grain  is  the  main 
object,  the  unsolved  problem  has  been  how 
to  keep  their  men  and  teams  employed 
between  seeding  and  harvest,  and  also  in  the 
winter  season.  This  gentleman  does  this 
by  cutting  the  natural  meadow  grass  for  the 
winter  season,  and  letting  his  cattle  run  out 
on  the  pastures  to  fatten  from  spring  to  fall, 
and  in  the  winter  season  both  men  and  teams 
are  at  liberty  to  attend  to  them.  Thus  with 
scarcely  any  extra  cost  cattle-raising  with  its 
profits  goes  side  by  side  with  wheat-raising 
with  its  profits  without  in  any  way  inter- 
fering." 

"  He  has  also  made  several  valuable  experi- 
ments, among  which  may  be  mentioned  seed- 
ing with  tame  grasses,  such  as  timothy, 
clover,  red  top,  at  sundry  times,  all  of  which 
have  turned  out  well.  He  has,  besides, 
adopted  what  is  known  in  the  East  as  '  sum- 
mer fallowing,'  and  this  also  has  been  suc- 
cessful, for  it  gives  the  land  a  year's  rest. 


44 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


All  these  things  and  many  others  have  been 
accomplished  in  six  .short  years,  and  they 
reflect  not  only  the  untiring  energy  and  con- 
summate ability  of  this  gentleman,  but  have 
forever  settled  the  adaptability  of  the  soil 
of  Lake  Park  for. wheat-raising,  and  what  is 
more  important,  its  peculiar  natural  adapta- 
bility for  diversified  farming,  which  system 
has  since  been  adopted  more  or  less  by  neigh- 
boring farmers.  Much  has  been  said  in  these 
latter  days  about  'large  farms,'  but  the 
investigation  of  this  and  other  sections  demon- 
strates that  they  aroused  the  whole  country 
and  hastened  the  settlement  of  the  North- 
west by  a  decade  of  years ;  and  nowhere 
along  the  Northern  Pacific  line  is  this  more 
plainly  visible  than  in  the  Lake  Park  Region. 
'  Never  forget  the  bridge  which  carries  you 
over.' 

"  The  village  of  Lake  Park  is  situated  north 
of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  track,  on  a 
sloping  elevation,  admirable  for  sanitary  and 
drainage  purposes,  overlooks  the  surround- 
ing country,  and  has  thus  avoided  those 
unfortunate  divisions  caused  by  being  located 
both  sides  of  the  track  or  a  half  a  mile  apart. 
Thus  the  first  impression — and  it  is  every- 
thing to  a  stranger — is  favorable.  The  second 
is  the  natural  beauty  of  the  town.  Outside 
of  its  picturesque  location,  the  lakes,  the 
trees,  the  green  grass,  are  beautiful  as  well 
as  useful,  and  here  they  abound.  The  third 
and  last  impression  indicated  in  innumerable 
ways  is  the  iron  tenacity  and  rigid  economy 
of  its  citizens. 

"  The  first  settlers  came  to  what  is  now 
called  Lake  Park  in  1869,  a  few  more  in  '70, 
not  many  additions  in  '71,  but  in  1872  houses 
commenced  to  be  built.  There  were  then 
twenty -five  people,  and  the  place  had  three 
names,  viz. :  Liberty  for  the  town,  Loringfor 
the  postoffice,  and  Lake  Side  for  the  railroad 
station.  About  1876  the  three,  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hawley,  were  merged 
into  Lake  Park.  The  railroad  reached  here  in 


1871,  and  the  cars  have  run  regularly  ever 
since.  The  greater  portion  of  the  people 
were  Norwegians  and  Swedes,  the  rest 
Americans.  All  had  come  to  this  section 
to  better  their  fortunes  by  cultivating  the 
soil,  although  almost  nothing  was  known 
about  it.  There  is  a  tendency  in  the 
human  mind  to  paint  the  rose  without  its 
thorn — the  ocean  without  its  tempests  and 
hurricanes — the  skies  without  their  thunders 
and  lightnings — the  West  without  its  clouds 
— as  the  material  heaven.  It  looks  in  the 
apt  words  of  the  poet  as  if— 

'  Life  is  a  sea  ; 
How  fair  its  face  ; 

How  smooth  its  dimpling  waters  pace  ; 
Its  canopy  how  pure.' 

"  The  reality,  however,  shows  that — 

' rocks  below 

And  tempests  sleep 
Insidious  o'er  the  glassy  deep, 
Nor  leave  one  hour  secure.' 

"  The  further  history  of  this  place  proves 
the  truth  of  the  lines.  During  '70  and  '71 
very  little  wheat  was  sown,  but  that  was 
consumed  by  grasshoppers.  In  '72  more 
wheat  was  sown,  and  that,  too,  was  de- 
voured by  the  grasshoppers.  In  '73 
wheat  was  again  sown — the  grasshoppers 
didn't  come,  probably  surfeited  by  their 
three  years'  feast;  but  what  was  not  much 
better,  cold  and  wet,  and  the  crop  was  little 
or  nothing.  In  '74  wheat  was  again  sown, 
and  grasshoppers  ate  up  everything,  probably 
hungry  and  mad  because  they  gave  the 
settlers  a  rest  the  year  before.  In  1875 
another  crop  was  put  in.  The  weather  was 
cold,  but  the  grasshoppers  wouldn't  stay 
away.  They  knew  too  Avell  the  deliciousness 
of  Red  River 'Valley  wheat,  much  better  than 
some  Eastern  wiseacres,  and  desired  once 
more  '  to  roll  it  as  a  sweet  morsel'  into  their 
maws.  The  weather,  however,  killed  them 
off,  but  not  until  they  had  destroyed  some 
sections.  The  crop  that  year  averaged 
twenty-five  bushels  per  acre,  which  went 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


45 


sixty  and  clean  up  to  sixty-four  pounds  to 
the  bushel.  Since  then  the  grasshoppers 
have  ceased  their  visitations,  and  the  crop 
of  wheat  has  been  good,  particularly  during 
the  last  two  years,  including  this  present  one. 
Many  an  American,  during  these  five  years 
of  wheat  famine,  left  for  '  other  fields  and 
pastures  new,'  but  the  Scandinavian  raised 
his  '  garden  sass,'  killed  muskrats,  bartered 
the  skins  to  the  storekeepers  to  settle  his 
grocery  bills,  and  lived  through,  and  the 
most  of  them  are  in  a  prosperous  condition 
to-day. 

"  Lake  Park  derives  its  importance  not  sim- 
ply from  its  surroundings  and  resources,  but 
from  its  being  located  on  that  grand  trans- 
continental route,  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road, which  Mr.  Thomas  H.  Can  field,  before 
alluded  to  in  this  history,  spent  the  best  part 
of  his  days  in  its  dark  and  gloomy  days  to 
inaugurate.  Pardon,  reader,  but  if  this 
gentleman  would  cease  his  active  life  (for  he 
is  an  intensely  busy  man)  and  write  a  history 
of  that  road  from  its  inception  to  date,  how 
it  was  received  and  voted  upon  by  distin- 
guished men  in  public  life,  who  would  now 
hang  their  heads  were  their  votes  reprinted, 
how  scientific,  learned  and  profound  men — 
not  a  few  regarded  him  as  visionary — who 
with  seer-like  vision  prophesied  the  glories  of 
the  Northwest,  and  urged,  with  all  the 
earnestness  of  his  nature,  its  immediate  adop- 
tion ;  how  the  project,  after  going  up  and 
down,  received  a  gigantic  impulse  forward 
from  'Old  Thad,'  and  was  further  accele- 
rated by  the  cool,  hard  sense  of  Gen.  Grant ; 
how  on  the  eve  of  success  it  fell  through 
under  the  unfortunate,  but  to-day  even  mis- 
understood, financial  operations  of  Jay  Cooke, 
the  ludicrous  and  humorous  incidents  con 
nected  therewith,  as  well  as  the  serious ;  how 
it  finally  revived  under  President  Villard, 
and  has  now  been  consummated,  it  would 
have  all  the  intense  interest  of  the  best  writ- 
ten novel,  as  well  as  the  weight  of  authenti- 


cated history.  Yes,  yes.  The  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad  is  part  and  parcel  of  the 
history  of  Lake  Park  as  well  as  the  lakes,  and 
this  episode  properly  belongs  here. 

"  On  this  road,  240  miles  from  St.  Paul  and 
218  from  Duluth  on  the  one  side  and  1,700 
from  Puget  Sound  on  the  other,  Lake  Park 
is  situated.  Three  passenger  trains  eastward 
and  westward  halt  here  each  day  as  they 
pursue  their  journeys.  Innumerable  freight 
trains  also  go  backward  and  forward,  which 
not  only  interchange  the  products  of  States 
and  Territories  as  now,  but  the  best  of 
Eastern  and  Western  civilization ;  for  the 
prophecy  of  Thomas  Benton,  '  There  is  India, ' 
is  no  myth.  Thus  the  reader  will  see  that 
Lake  Park  is  in  the  center  of  civilization  and 
one  of  the  most  easily  accessible  places  in 
the  West. 

"  Thus  Mr.  Cantield  has  demonstrated  that 
here  is  a  section  which  can  produce  wheat 
equally  as  well  as  any  other  part  of  the  Red 
River  Valley,  and  in  addition  has  the  natural 
advantages  for  stock-raising.  Although 
higher  than  Quebec,  reaching  near  to  the  47th 
parallel,  this  region  in  its  quickness  of 
growth,  variety  of  crops,  salubrity  of  cli- 
mate and  health  of  its  people,  is  unsurpassed. 
To  sum  it  all  up  :  That  he  who  would  fol- 
low farming  as  an  avocation,  and  not  as  a 
speculation,  must  do  so  on  the  diversified 
plan." 

PERSONAL    CHARACTERISTICS. 

Mr.  Canfield  has  now  been  engaged  in 
active  business  forty -nine  years,  during  which 
time  he  has  never  taken  a  day  specially  for 
recreation  or  pleasure,  so  called,  but  has 
found  his  pleasure  in  the  work  in  which  he 
has  bet,n  engaged,  believing  thereby  he  was 
doing  some  good  to  his  fellow-men  and  his 
country. 

Although  of  a  slender  frame  and  fragile 
constitution,  he  is  yet  apparently  as  well  and 
active  and  moves  with  the  same  elastic  step 
as  twenty  years  ago,  which  he  attributes  in 


46 


THOMAS  H.  CANFIELD. 


a  great  degree  to  his  constant  busy  life  and 
temperate  habits  in  all  things,  except  work. 
He  is  a  good  judge  of  human  nature,  ena- 
bling him  to  be  an  excellent  organizer  and 
manager  of  men,  quick  in  observation,  clear 
in  judgment  and  ra.pid  in  execution.  While 
being  naturally  self-reliant,  to  which  his 
varied  experience  has  contributed,  yet  he  is 
ready  at  all  times  to  listen  to  others  and 
adopt  their  views,  even  if  they  differ  from 
his  own,  if  they  have  merit  in  them.  Modest 
in  his  pretensions,  he  is  ever  ready  to  give  to 
others  the  credit  of  any  good  work,  although 
he  may  have  been  mainly  instrumental  in 
bringing  it  about.  Having  been  engaged 
most  of  his  life  in  work  of  a  public  character, 
and  connected  with  many  great  enter- 
prises, he  has  an  extended  knowledge 
of  the  country  and  broad  and  compre- 
hensive ideas  as  to  its  capacity  and  re- 
sources, and  entertains  the  most  sanguine 
views  as  to  its  future  greatness  and 
power.  When  once  enlisted  in  any  scheme 
which  commands  his  approbation,  he  is  very 
persistent  and  persevering  until  it  is  accom- 
plished, no  matter  how  difficult  it  may  be  or 
how  serious  the  obstacles  to  be  encountered. 
The  idea  of  defeat  never  enters  into  his  cal- 
culations. He  is  very  retiring,  talks  but 
little,  is  a  good  listener,  but  clear  in  his  ideas 
of  right  and  wrong  and  firm  in  maintaining 
them.  He  is  generous  almost  to  a  fault, 
and  in  anything  in  which  he  believes  he  is 
ready  to  back  his  acts  with  his  money,  so 
far  as  he  is  able ;  a  true  and  firm  friend  to 
those  who  gain  his  confidence  —  and  many 
are  the  men  in  good  circumstances  and 
prominent  positions,  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  who  are  indebted  for  them  to  his 
early  aid  and  assistance. 

He  is  averse  to  undue  display  and 
notoriety,  disliking  anything  which  smacks 
of  "fuss  and  feathers,"  and  dreads  to  appear 
before  the  public,  unless  his  duties  or  the 
necessities  of  the  work  upon  which  he  is 
engaged  require  it. 


He  is  never  so  happy  as  when  at  his 
country  home,  on  Lake  Champlain,  sur- 
rounded by  his  charming  family,  and  joining 
in  all  the  details  of  their  plans  and  schemes 
with  the  greatest  pleasure. 

At  d inherent  times  he  has  been  actively 
engaged  in  political  matters,  but  always 
refusing  to  accept  any  office  of  any  kind, 
preferring  to  aid  those  whom  he  deemed 
capable  of  filling  public  stations.  Arriving 
at  his  majority  when  the  old  Whig  party 
was  prominent,  his  first  vote  was  cast  for  its 
nominees,  and  he  continued  identified  with 
it  until  it  was  succeeded  by  the  Republican 
party,  to  which  he  has  since  belonged.  He 
understands  thoroughly  all  the  great  politi- 
cal issues  which  have  agitated  the  country 
for  the  last  forty  years,  as  well  as  the  great 
commercial  questions  which  involve  the  busi- 
ness and  prosperity  of  these  United  States. 
Few  men  have  had  a  more  extensive  ac- 
quaintance and  knowledge  in  the  last  genera- 
tion of  the  prominent  men  of  the  nation, 
whether  in  politics  or  business. 

A  PROMINENT  CHURCHMAN. 

He  is  an  active  member  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  having  been  brought  up  in 
it  from  childhood,  the  house  in  which  he 
was  born  in  Arlington,  Yermont,  being  the 
one  occupied  by  his  grandfather,  Nathan 
Canfield,  the  lay  delegate  to  the  first  conven- 
tion of  the  Diocese  of  Yermont,  which  was 
organized  at  Arlington  in  1790  ;  and,  as  will 
be  seen  from  the  above,  his  great-great- 
grandfather, Capt.  Jehiel  Hawley,  had  offici- 
ated as  Lay -Reader  of  the  Church  service  reg- 
ularly on  Sundays  from  1764  until  his  death. 
He  was  baptized  in  infancy  in  the  old  original 
church  at  Arlington  by  "Priest  Bronson,"  one 
of  the  first  clergymen  in  Yermont,  and  con- 
firmed by  Bishop  Hopkins  in  St.  Paul's 
church,  Burlington,  Good  Friday,  1848.  He 
was  for  many  years  a  vestryman  and  warden 
of  St.  Paul's  church,  had  charge  of  the 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


47 


enlargement  of  the  church  in  1852,  raising  the 
money  for  it,  and  again  in  1868  in  building 
the  transept,  devoting  much  time  as  well  as 
money.  He  has  attended  every  convention 
of  the  Diocese  of  Vermont  for  thirty-seven 
years,  twenty-eight  of  which  he  has  been  the 
secretary  of  it.  For  several  years  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Standing  Committee  of  the 
Diocese,  and  also  represented  it  as  Deputy  in 
the  five  general  conventions  of  the  Church  in 
the  United  States,  held  in  Philadelphia  in 
1856,  in  Richmond,  Virginia,  in  1859,  in  New 
York  in  1874,  in  Boston  in  1877,  and  in  Chi- 
cago in  October,  1886. 

Of  the  original  incorporators  and  trustees 
of  the  Vermont  Episcopal  Institute,  char- 
tered in  1854,  he  and  the  Hon.  E.  J.  Phelps, 
the  present  United  States  Minister  at  the 
Court  of  St.  James,  are  the  only  survivors. 
He  has  been  the  resident  trustee  ever  since, 
having  charge  of  its  affairs,  and  as  treasurer 
for  the  last  twenty-five  years.  He  was 
closely  identified  with  the  late  Bishop  Hop- 
kins in  the  negotiations  for  the  100  acres  at 
Rock  Point,  Burlington,  Vermont,  for  an 
Episcopal  residence  and  church  schools,  and 
in  the  erection  of  the  large  stone  building 
for  the  theological  and  academical  depart- 
ments. During  the  last  two  years  he  has 
been  very  active  and  instrumental  in  raising 
$60,000  for  the  buildings  for  the  young 
ladies'  department,  and  has  had  full  charge 
of  the  erection  of  them  upon  the  same 
property. 

There  is  probably  nothing  which  Mr. 
Canfield  has  done  in  his  whole  life  in  which 
he  has  taken  more  interest,  or  regards  of 
more  importance,  than  the  erection  of  "Bishop 
Hopkins'  Hall,"  at  Burlington,  Vermont,  for 
the  purpose  of  a  church  school  for  young 
ladies,  not  only  onaccountof  thehigh  standard 
of  intellectual,  scientific  and  classical  instruc- 
tion maintained  therein,  but  especially  for 
the  moral  and  religious  culture  which  the 
pupils  will  receive  through  the  elevating 


influences  and  Christian  training  of  The 
Church.  Considering  the  positions  these 
young  ladies  may  be  called  upon  to  occupy 
in  different  parts  of  our  wide-spread  land 
hereafter,  whether  as  teachers,  wives  or 
mothers,  their  influence  upon  the  civ- 
ilization and  improvement  of  the  com- 
munity where  their  lot  may  be  cast 
must  necessarily  reflect  the  training  and 
instruction  received  at  their  Alma  Mater, 
and  constitute  a  continual  living  force  for  all 
time  to  come,  the  usefulness  of  which  to 
society,  the  church  and  future  generations 
can  not  be  estimated  by  any  human  mind. 

Around  a  refined  and  well-ordered  home, 
the  center  of  which  is  the  wife  and  mother, 
cluster  the  most  intense  affections  and 
endearments  of  all — on  them,  under  God, 
depend  the  most  precious  interests  of  the 
rising  generation.  The  most  persuasive  and 
active  influence  in  every  religious  work  rests 
in  their  hands,  and  without  them  in  these 
degenerate  days  we  should  have  neither 
church,  minister  nor  people,  and  how  import- 
ant then  that  their  education  have  for  its 
foundation  the  Christian  religion. 

Mr.  Canfield  regards  the  establishment  of 
this  institution  as  the  climax  of  his  life's 
work  ;  and  although  perhaps  of  not  as  much 
magnitude  in  the  estimation  of  the  public  as 
some  other  things  which  he  has  done,  yet 
the  real  intrinsic  good  which  it  will  confer 
upon  mankind  will  be  constant  and  perpet- 
ual ;  a  high  and  important  destiny  awaits  it 
—  it  will  be  a  fitting  exponent  of  the  refined 
and  elevated  influence  of  our  Church  institu- 
tions, maintaining  that  thoroughness  of  in- 
tellectual, scientific  and  Christian  education, 
whose  solidity  of  structure  and  completeness 
of  proportions  will  cause  it  to  harmonize 
with  all  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the 
teachings  of  The  Church,  as  does  the  build- 
ing itself  with  the  beauty  and  grandeur 
of  the  magnificent  and  diversified  scenery 
by  which  it  is  surrounded.  He  has 


THOMAS  H.  CAN  FIELD. 


so  managed  the  finances  of  this  cor- 
poration that  the  Diocese  of  Vermont  has 
now  this  beautiful  property  on  the  banks  of 
Lake  Chainplain,  of  100  acres,  with  an  Epis- 
copal residence,  a  large  stone  building  for 
the  theological  department  and  boys'  school, 
and  another  of  equal  dimensions  for  the 
young  ladies'  school,  both  in  successful  oper- 
ation, and  the  whole  paid  for  —  not  a  dollar 
of  debt  outstanding  or  any  lien  upon  the 
property. 

He  was  mainly  instrumental  in  raising 
the  money  for  building  Trinity  chapel, 
Winooski,  Vermont,  the  plan  being  prepared 
by  his  brother-in-law,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hopkins, 
as  was  also  that  of  the  Episcopal  church  at 
Brainerd,  Minnesota,  which  he  founded, 
furnishing1  the  block  on  which  it  stands  and 

O 

half  the  money  for  the  building.  He  also 
furnished  the  sites  for  the  churches  at  Moor- 
head  and  Lake  Park,  Minnesota,  Bismarck, 
Dakota,  and  Kalama,  Washington  Territory, 
and  assisted  in  building  the  churches.  How- 
ever much  he  may  be  absorbed  in  business, 
he  always  finds  time  to  attend  to  The 
Church  and  its  interests. 

Few  men  have  ever  had  a  more  busy  life, 
which  from  present  indications  is  likely  to 
continue  in  the  same  way  to  the  end ;  and 
he  probably  will,  as  he  says  he  expects  to  do, 
"die  in  the  harness." 

CONCLUSION. 

As  the  writer  pens  the  closing  sentences  of 
the  life  history  of  this  truly  great  man,  a 
newspaper,  the  Manchester  Jo'iirnal,  one  of 


the  leading  journals  of  Vermont,  falls  into 
his  hands,  containing  an  article  which  forms 
a  fitting  conclusion  for  this  biography,  illus- 
trating the  standing  of  Mr.  Canfield  in  his 
native  State,  the  respect  in  which  he  is  held 
and  the  prominence  he  has  attained.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Wickham  referred  to  in  the  article, 
one  of  the  most  able  men  in  Vermont,  suc- 
ceeded the  Rev.  Dr.  Coleman  as  principal  of 
Burr  Seminary  for  thirty  years.  The  Editor 
who  had  evidently  written  an  article  on 
the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  for  the 
Manchester  Journal  says  :  "  Rev.  Dr.  Wick- 
ham  sends  us  a  note,  saying  that  he 
was  very  greatly  interested  in  the  article  on 
the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad.  Thomas  H. 
Canfield  was  a  student  at  Burr  Seminary 
just  before  Dr.  Wickham  came  here,  fifty-one 
years  ago,  but  the  doctor  was  well  acquainted 
with  him  before  he  left  Arlington,  and  went 
down  thereat  his  solicitation  and  gave  a  tem- 
perance lecture  to  an  association  formed 
mainty  by  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Canfield,  then 
considerably  less  than  twenty  years  of  age. 
Dr.  Wickham  was  then  greatly  impressed 
with  his  energy  and  formed  high  hopes  for 
the  future  of  the  young  man,  which  have  not 
been  disappointed.  Dr.  Wickham  adds  : 
'  If  Burlington  can  boast  of  her  Edmunds, 
the  leader  of  the  United  States  Senate,  and 
of  Phelps,  the  eminent  jurist  and  distin- 
guished representative  at  the  Court  of  St. 
James,  she  has  not  another  citizen  that 
has  honored  her  more  than  Thomas  H. 
Canfield.'  " 


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